Delhi
is a Metropolitan and so is Mumbai. If Delhi is the political capital, Mumbai
is the commercial
capital of
India. Both the cities attract people from all across the globe due to variety
of reasons but what makes the cities really different from each other, other
than the infrastructure is the human behaviour. This is an important factor when it comes
to selecting a city to live
in or a city to work.
Now this topic had
to come. It was long due. Inspired by the famous 'Mumbaikar,Punekar, Nagpurkar'
by P Deshpande and the fact the I am a true Mumbaikar whose born and semi-brought
up in the city of Mumbai . A recent visit to Delhi provoked me to write
this.There is a huge difference of culture n Human behaviour in both the cities.
I find HUGE differences among the 2 places.
Mumbaikars are always busy.No matter what time of the day, what day of the year
we are just always busy. On the other hand Delhiites are always free. They
always have time for everything in the world. The most recent example was
Anna's agitation where there was a low turnout in Mumbai.We are always in a
hurry to either catch some train or do something. They are never in a hurry
even if it means visiting someone on a deathbed. Ask a Mumbaikar , 'Whats the
time?' and 8 out of 10 times he will get irritated that you have wasted his few
minutes asking the question. On the other hand, ask a Delhiite for an address,
and chances are he will accompany you to the place.The best part is even when
they do not know the address, they will tell you something like this
' Yahan se teesra right le lo..Aage ek mandir hai, wahan pooch lena' ( Take the
third right and you would find a temple. Ask the person there he can help).
They would hardly say I don't know, on the other hand a Mumbaikar might say I
don't know even if he knows. Both extremes.
Time again is Money for Mumbaikars. We catch the same 8:42 AM train daily for years of our life. Then the connecting bus and reach office on time at 9:30. No one bothers wasting time. To the extent that a BEST (Bombay transport bus) Conductor threatens you with the fact that he will stop the bus if you have a verbal argument with him. He knows for sure all the other passengers will support him since they do not want to waste time by getting the bus stopped. Delhi on the other hand is the other extreme. I was travelling in a bus when he took the bus to the petrol station and declared that it will take 20 mins to fill gas. And I was surprised that all got down with no complaints and no hurry.I mean if it was Mumbai, we might have burned the bus for wasting 20 minutes.Speaking of Time,I recently had the luxury to attend a birthday party in Delhi and was invited at 7.00 PM. No one came before 9 PM. Mumbai on the other hand, the party hall is booked till 10 PM for a 7 PM party, so people come at 8 and leave by 9.
Then again there is the attitude factor. Every Delhiite feels he owns the state. He will talk big and would always be pompous. The 'I can do this' and 'I can do that' types.Far far away from reality.I asked one of my friend here that why do they do that and he explained that it is a cycle. Today you are being a pompous person and people are listening, tomorrow it's his turn to be one and you will listen. Its mutual understanding.The same goes for salaries or earnings. Ask a Mumbaikar his salary and either he refuses to reveal it or will give a low approximate. Ask a Delhiite about it and he will add one zero on the right of the figure and mention it. I mean whom are you kidding man, We belong to the same industry we know the facts.My dad taught me this, that when you talk about finances with a Delhiite, subtract a zero from the right to get the true figure.
That leads me to something that even Delhiites agree is a problem with them. Its something we call as 'Show-off'. A Mumbaikar would travel in a local train with a plastic bag that might have crores in it. A Delhiite earning in thousands might feel its below his dignity to travel in anything less than Honda City. He may not have the money to buy petrol but having a car is must. And this may not sync but I suddenly remembered that the word QUEUE does not exist in the dictionary of Delhiites. They get surprised to come to Mumbai and see Queues for everything. For a Delhiite, standing in a Queue is for losers.
Time again is Money for Mumbaikars. We catch the same 8:42 AM train daily for years of our life. Then the connecting bus and reach office on time at 9:30. No one bothers wasting time. To the extent that a BEST (Bombay transport bus) Conductor threatens you with the fact that he will stop the bus if you have a verbal argument with him. He knows for sure all the other passengers will support him since they do not want to waste time by getting the bus stopped. Delhi on the other hand is the other extreme. I was travelling in a bus when he took the bus to the petrol station and declared that it will take 20 mins to fill gas. And I was surprised that all got down with no complaints and no hurry.I mean if it was Mumbai, we might have burned the bus for wasting 20 minutes.Speaking of Time,I recently had the luxury to attend a birthday party in Delhi and was invited at 7.00 PM. No one came before 9 PM. Mumbai on the other hand, the party hall is booked till 10 PM for a 7 PM party, so people come at 8 and leave by 9.
Then again there is the attitude factor. Every Delhiite feels he owns the state. He will talk big and would always be pompous. The 'I can do this' and 'I can do that' types.Far far away from reality.I asked one of my friend here that why do they do that and he explained that it is a cycle. Today you are being a pompous person and people are listening, tomorrow it's his turn to be one and you will listen. Its mutual understanding.The same goes for salaries or earnings. Ask a Mumbaikar his salary and either he refuses to reveal it or will give a low approximate. Ask a Delhiite about it and he will add one zero on the right of the figure and mention it. I mean whom are you kidding man, We belong to the same industry we know the facts.My dad taught me this, that when you talk about finances with a Delhiite, subtract a zero from the right to get the true figure.
That leads me to something that even Delhiites agree is a problem with them. Its something we call as 'Show-off'. A Mumbaikar would travel in a local train with a plastic bag that might have crores in it. A Delhiite earning in thousands might feel its below his dignity to travel in anything less than Honda City. He may not have the money to buy petrol but having a car is must. And this may not sync but I suddenly remembered that the word QUEUE does not exist in the dictionary of Delhiites. They get surprised to come to Mumbai and see Queues for everything. For a Delhiite, standing in a Queue is for losers.
The behaviour of
people in businesses is more systematic in Mumbai than in Delhi. Once the
procedures are set, it is a general observation that people follow those
procedures and are ready to accept if they are wrong somewhere.
In Delhi people are
more ambitious and the ambitions bring on the aggression at times.
Procedures are taken over by urgent matters.
I can go On n ON on this Topic.
Speak about both and I have hundreds of examples to give. But than I cannot
give them all cause I feel I will publish a book on it. :-) So let me keep some
for the book.Provided Mumbaikars get the time to defend them and Delhiites feel
the need to defend themselves to a software guy with no car (Bekaar).
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