Hello to everyone who’s reading this. In spite of being an avid reader and writer, this is the first time I’m actually publishing a non-fictional work of mine on the Internet. Procrastination is a virtue. I would know. So please bear with me.
The country we live in is an enigma in itself. The people, the colours, the vibrancy in the very fabric of life here is not something easily found. And of course, the food! There is no comparing Indian cuisine with any other in the world. Along with all these things, there comes to mind the national capital - New Delhi.
A lot is said and written and discussed about Delhi. A number of movies have been made and Delhi has become a hot spot for shooting (film shooting!) the past few years. It’s often said that Delhi is a mini-India in itself, that people from all walks of life come together and make it is what it is today. There isn’t an apt describing word in the English language befitting the sentiment a Dilliwala has for his city.
Its not all hunky-dory in Sadi Dilli though. An atrocious number of problems plague it. You could look at the glass as half empty or half full. But with Delhi, you cannot look at one side and be ignorant of the other. The duality that exists here is a rare thing indeed.
One such thing is the sentiments towards tourists. ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ is taught to every school going kid. Even if someone is illiterate, they would be familiar with the phrase that is so often spouted off since the Commonwealth Games, its not even funny. We are advised to respect the tourists, help them when required, be a gracious host, blah blah blah.
And then we are expected to rob them blind, fleece them, molest and rape.
Delhi is an unsafe city for women. That is an undebateable fact. But Delhi becomes worse than a lion’s den when you are woman travelling alone. The gruesome tales in the capital/city section of the newspaper are known to everyone. But lets not go there.
I came across a group of African-American women today. I don’t want to reveal where exactlythey were from, because they are still in Delhi and probably staying at a High Commission. I was walking towards my house after an uneventful ride on the Metro and they were walking from the opposite direction towards me. What I didn’t expect was for them to walk up to me and say “Hi!” very enthusiastically. I was stumped for a few seconds before I decided to use The Brain that Dear God gifted me with.
You see, us Indians are very formal and stuffy. Making small talk with strangers (fellow passengers, those waiting in a line with you and the like) is an unusual concept for us. There have been times I have annoyed a number of fellow passengers because of this. (Those travelling in the Ladies’ Compartment surely have the evil eye perfected!) But I digress.
The black women told me that they have to go to a certain address in South Delhi and wanted me to help them out since people here didn't speak English. I am very passionate about the English language and hence the opportunity to be a translator, for a short time, was pleasing. It wasn’t a faraway place they were headed to, but how do you get a dozen women around in a city unfamiliar to cab service? I tried getting the autos for them but again... a dozen women? It would have needed a procession. One auto-rickshaw driver did stop and agreed to go when I spoke to him. But as soon as he saw me relaying this to a lady who seemed to be the in-charge, his eyes got shifty and he started surveying the group. Though eventually, it turned out that the place they were headed to was sending a cab for them, the auto driver’s sudden change in attitude stuck in my mind.
Why is it that we look for ways to exploit the first person we can find and get away with it? What was the driver thinking at that instant? Surely, he couldn’t kidnap a dozen women, could he? Its the bizarre spectrum of crimes in India that makes me paranoid and unable to brush away the thought.
I don’t want to spin a depressing tale of apathetic Delhites here. I don’t have an eloquent and elaborate hypothesis on the same. But sometimes I feel like shaking up some people and tell them - would it kill you to be more humane? Why does an average Delhite have so much anger and resentment and greed festering inside him?
If only the answers were that simple.
