Delhi sucks, Mumbai rocks

Mumbai has come out tops. Our surfers have said the city's people, its nightlife and transport all score above Delhi.

The city of dreams and the city of means. Mumbai and Delhi have always fascinated people. And for this reason, there has always been a debate about which is the better city. While people usually say Delhi is better in terms of space and job opportunities, opinions are unanimous that Mumbai is better for its people, transport and night life.

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This week when Vox populi decided to quiz its readers about the pros and cons of living in Mumbai and Delhi, we were pretty sure of one thing: Delhi would come out tops as the better city. Especially post 11/7, when Mumbai's security system and its crowded transport came in for a lot of flak.

But we were surprised. Mumbai was still the favourite, with many Delhiites opting for the city of dreams. But the capital too, had its admirers most of whom recognised and defended its flaws. The responses were frank and spontaneous, and we could feel lots of anger and frustration bursting forth.

Savita, a surfer wrote in from Delhi: "I don't know when and why Delhi became the capital of India. It is a sick city and its people are barbaric. No education, no logic, and absolutely no manners. It is an uncivilised society with its thoughts only on money. Mumbai has flaws but Delhi is a hell-hole!"

Mumbai too came in for its share of criticism: As Hafeez Siddiqui from Jeddah said: "Delhi is intellectually as well as materially cosmopolitan, whereas Mumbai is largely materialistic. In Delhi one can find compatibility in every walk of life regardless of his or her mindset, whereas in Mumbai, a slow mover, an idealist and a non-competitor runner-after-money has hardly any place to live. Mumbai is threatened (for name sake though), with the parochialism of the Marathawad, whereas Delhi is not sickened with any such virus. Delhi is wide open, but Mumbai is limited geographically and culturally, and drowned in the pursuit of financial gain mostly."

Interestingly, Mumbaikars who responded to the survey loved their city unconditionally while our Delhi surfers shared a love-hate relationship with the city. Phrases like 'Mumbai meri Jaan' and 'Delhi is good, but can do better' were replete throughout the survey.

Naren, a surfer from Bhopal had this to say: "Delhi is a more spacious city. And it has a bustling intellectual life. But it can do better in terms of better transport facilities, respect for people and common etiquette. Mumbai is overcrowded, it has small match-box like houses and is very fast, but it manages to retain a vestige of humanity."

Here are some of the other interesting responses:

Gautam Ganguly from Bangkok said: "Delhi is definitely rich but it takes a nanosecond to find an excuse to kill someone ! Mumbai on the other hand may be overcrowded and overpopulated but it still retains the basic values of humanity."

Now here's what Gyanchand Verma from Mumbai had to say: "Mumbai is far better than Delhi in the safety aspect. You can roam around Mumbai without any hassles, day and night. People are cooperative in Mumbai and always helpful. Women are more respected in Mumbai than in Delhi. In fact, even a man finds it fearful to travel in Delhi. Every other person I meet in Delhi at night is either drunk or of bad character. And it is very difficult to get public transport after 11 at night. But this is not the case with Mumbai. I can safely commute at any time of the night, to any distant place, in Mumbai."

Mandakini Gahlot, a surfer from Delhi, was nostalgic about Mumbai: "Having lived in Mumbai for many years, I'm finding it extremely difficult to adjust to the Delhi culture which in my view is as regressive as the Middle Ages. Besides, most people here are rude and noisy and the men are extremely lecherous. Would give the world to go back to good old Mumbai."

Another surfer called Bhanu Sengupta from Delhi had this to say: "Delhi, the capital of India, is also the capital of an uncivilised India and the capital of bureaucracy, inefficiency, rudeness and everything bad. Mumbai on the other hand, represents hard work, honesty, truthfulness and all good things that India stands for. Delhi has no culture and manners. The inhabitants of Delhi are predominantly thieves and ganglords of ancient India."

Prof Tanmoy Shahane from Delhi also had similar things to say: "I have lived for 25 years in Mumbai and 20 years in Delhi. And I can safely say that Mumbai is the better city in terms of a lot of parameters - infrastructure, transport, professionalism, respect for women, cosmopolitanism and friendly people. Delhi on the other hand is an elitist city -those with cars, bungalows and servants can live well here. But if you are a common person using the public transport to commute to work, you'll experience a cruel, rude, avaricious and lecherous city."

The Delhi-bashing continued, with surfers saying that the people here are indifferent to the evils around them.

Take for instance, Divya Khosla, a surfer who said: "Delhiites are the rudest, most ill-mannered people I've come across anywhere. They think they know everything and have nothing to recommend them. It maybe because they haven't seen a better life that they accept whatever comes their way. They are indifferent to the evils that happen around them, keep their mouths shut even if a murder happens before their eyes and are ignorant and barbaric."

Before the true blue Delhiites out there get ruffled, here are a few responses that favoured the national capital.

Rajinder from Prague said: "Delhi is India's richest city, and its quality of life is best compared to anywhere else in India. And in Mumbai it is the worst. According to the BBC, 37 per cent of Mumbai lives in slums, 50 per cent live either in chawls or single bedroom flats and only two per cent live in individual bedrooms. In Delhi on the other hand, 40 per cent people have their own bedrooms. And Delhi has 4.2 million vehicles, which is more than all major cities combined, including Mumbai. If Delhi has old Delhi, than Mumbai roads are no broader than the gullies of Old Delhi. Such crap I have never seen anywhere. So Delhi is the much better city!"

Vishal Tyagi from Delhi said: 'This debate is a non issue, since Mumbai is not a city but an urban slum. And the people of Mumbai are not even aware of what a good life means."

A surfer called Ipshika was full of admiration for Delhi. She said: "East or West, Delhi is the best...you cannot compare Delhi with Mumbai. Delhi has the sophistication and charm that Mumbai cannot even dream of. Mumbai is famous for the underworld and the floods. It is more expensive and the roads suck. Delhi has beautiful roads, flyovers, and the METRO now. And the train system in Mumbai sucks big time. Mumbai people are rude and crude, whereas Delhi people have bigger hearts, they are more helpful, not miserly and less competitive. Delhi has a culture of live and let live while in Mumbai it is kill anyone who comes in your way."

Now for the number-crunching. In response to the first question, a whopping 203 people said the best thing about Mumbai is its cosmopolitan attitude. While 146 people vouched for the city's nightlife, only 90 surfers said its people were the best.

Question two targeted the Delhiites. We asked what they felt was the best thing about their city. As many as 203 people said space was Delhi's forte, while 117 went for its culture. And 69 people said jobs were easily available in Delhi.

Question three: A Mumbai train or a Delhi bus? evoked an interesting response: 162 people vouched for a Mumbai train and only 92 surfers chose the Delhi bus. Interestingly, the majority (179) chose to travel by their own car.

The fourth question wanted to know if it was true whether Delhi had money and Mumbai manners. Here, 198 surfers said both the cities were rich and rude, while 137 said Mumbai was both rich and well-mannered. 104 people meanwhile, said Delhi was a rude city.

Question five asked the surfers which city was safe for women. And not surprisingly, Mumbai topped this section. 275 people said Mumbai was safe, while only 35 people said the capital was safe for its women. A more cautious 129 people said women are not safe anywhere.

The last question we asked was whether Mumbaikars would live in Delhi and vice-versa, if the need arose. While 150 Delhiites said they would not even think of such a thing, 147 Mumbaikars said the question would never arise. 142 people meanwhile said it depends on the situation.

Before we sign off for the week, we would like to clarify that we were totally unbiased when framing the questionnaire. Our only intention was that the flaws of these cities be highlighted and remedied as soon as possible.

Having said that, Vox populi would like to thank its surfers for their enthusiastic response. We will we back next week with another interesting issue to sort out. Till then, have a great week ahead!