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 brought up in the city of Mumbai but my Native is Delhi, I feel myself in a good position to write this. Also I just love talking on this topic. Something tells me I can write a book on this topic, so beware, this might be a lengthy blog.
Before I start talking, Let me clear some facts. The blog is dedicated to the people of the 2 places and I will not talk or consider anything about politics or infrastructure of the 2 cities. Also when I mean Mumbaikar, I mean WE , the north Indians, South Indians, Gujaratis and Marathis and others who have stayed in this city for long enough to be domiciled as Maharashtrians (There is a difference between a Maharashtrian and a Marathi). Not the Raj Thackeray types but the true Mumbaikars who make the city of Mumbai and same logic applies to Delhiites.
A person who stays in Mumbai and travels Delhi every year and has all his relatives from that place, 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.
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. I guess a good debate in the comments section should be expected. Provided Mumbaikars get the time to defend them and Delhiites feel the need to defend themselves to a software guy with no car (Bekaar).
Cheers!
Before I start talking, Let me clear some facts. The blog is dedicated to the people of the 2 places and I will not talk or consider anything about politics or infrastructure of the 2 cities. Also when I mean Mumbaikar, I mean WE , the north Indians, South Indians, Gujaratis and Marathis and others who have stayed in this city for long enough to be domiciled as Maharashtrians (There is a difference between a Maharashtrian and a Marathi). Not the Raj Thackeray types but the true Mumbaikars who make the city of Mumbai and same logic applies to Delhiites.
A person who stays in Mumbai and travels Delhi every year and has all his relatives from that place, 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.
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. I guess a good debate in the comments section should be expected. Provided Mumbaikars get the time to defend them and Delhiites feel the need to defend themselves to a software guy with no car (Bekaar).
Cheers!
