Delhi - Unsafe -WHY?

During the last few days, there are many reports about the capital city of India - Delhi being unsafe in many manners, mainly for the Tourists coming from abroad. The major complaints being - behaviour of Indian men towards foriegn women, fleecing by all the shopkeepers and above all - the problem of Delhi Autowallahs.

I like to start with a "Sorry", for all those who had faced such issues at Delhi. Being the capital of India, the people of Delhi should understand the responsibility on their shoulders, to make the Tourists feel safe and should help them to enjoy their stay, so that they want to come back and explore more about the Life at India, its cultural depth and the vast variety in every region.

The major issue at Delhi is that the place is really a Cosmopolitan City, constituted mainly by Immigrants from all over India. It has no culture of its own or may be that old culture is lost in the making of Delhi in the streets of old Delhi..

Before Independence, Delhi used be a handful of villages on the outskirts, like Lado Sarai, Sheikh Sarai, Katwaria sarai, etc & the colonies built by Moghuls like Hauz Khas, Chandani Chowk, Nizammuddin, Ajmeri Gate, Lahori Gate, etc. So, Delhi used to be inhabited by Jats holding the agricultural land and Muslims taking care of skilled and semi-skilled jobs & "Bania" community taking care of trading and market activity.

These are different set of communities, residing in closely knit residential colonies, having their own culture and rituals, with mutual respect for each other.

During the British Rule, when Delhi became the capital, it also became the seat of "Power". All the central government offices were set up at Delhi and people from all over the country started coming to Delhi to grab the positions and work at central Govt offices. All this created, the powerful central Delhi, which is knows as NDMC nowadays, with hugh Bunglows and posh residences for all high ranking govt officials, surrounded by govt quarters at Sarojini Nagar, Kidwai nagar, Lodhi Colony, Bapa Nagar, Bengali Market, etc.

This started creating the sense of aloofness, as people from different regions started living next door and many could not adapt to next door neighbour's culture . Everyone was alone in their cultural celebration and people started losing the sense of sharing and caring. Its like - survival of the fittest in the animal kingdom.

Then came of moment of Independence, it brought along a hugh chunk of refugees from the parts of Punjab, which used to be in Pakistan. These Punjabis were given small shelter homes in the outskirts of Delhi, like Kingsway camp, Subhash Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Jangpura, etc. These were people, who were down to earth, hard worker, but intelligent and smart enough to adapt and mint "Gold' out of "Dust". Most of these started some kind of shop, they worked hard and started shaping up the Delhi. They minted Money and started buying up the agricultural land and started building up the plotted colonies and markets. Within few years, they took everyone by surprise, as they raised their stake in the society, by virtue of their Money Power. So, by now, Delhi became the place of Power, be it political or money and add to it, the central Govt Machinery. Everyone is connected to the Power Game and in all these buildup, we lost the culture of respect for the elders, for the neighbours, for the common man on the street. Its the race to be the one, with more money, with bigger bunglow, with larger car, ..the list is endless, it also includes the list of more Connections, be it the PA of PM or CM or even the local legislature member..

So, the Delhi for me is the VIP city, where everyone is connected to some VIP and gets his way by virtue of name dropping. This gave rise to the culture of Corruption among Govt Officials. As, these new immigrants are showing their money power, the only way for the govt officials to match them is by accepting more bribes at work. This corruption slowly percolotes down to the common man also. As common man gives bribe to get his work done, he always tries to cheat someone else to make up for that lost money. This is the reason for the petty ShopKeepers & Autowallahs to fleece whenever there is a chance.

So, better for Foriegners in the city is to depend on the trusted mode of Transport, like Pre-paid cabs or Call taxis. Also, try to understand the real value of merchandise and learn the trick of bargaining while shopping on the streets or always go the Big Super market and stores for their Shopping, to get the Fixed rates. They should plan before reaching India, about their Hotel and Book the same through Internet and do some Homework about Do's and Dont's to protect themselves against Cheats..

One of the biggest complaint from Women tourist is the "oogling eyes" of Indian men in the streets & the reason for same can be that North India does not have a sea shore and so no beach view, and the women folk at India cover their skin well, even the space between shirt buttons are stitched nicely with pins.., which means, the moment the men on the street find the view of Extra Skin, that too White, they tend to forget their culture and they start behaving like baboons. At that moment, these men really show their education level & their sense of respect for the women folk. Its really not a Good State but it will wade off only with more and more education and also openness is growing in India Society, with people travelling all over the world. With time, surely, these little matters will also settles down. People will learn to admire the Beauty rather than making a Taunt, a loose comment ..

Till then, better to cover slightly more skin and be safe and Enjoy the Streets of Delhi, which has variety in terms of merchandise as well as Food.., Explore the same..