Why don't Dilliwalas get respect for their 'spirit' like the Mumbaikars?

For all its hardships and difficulties, Delhi doesn't get its due credit. It's a little unfair when we salute Mumbaikars for the spirit of Mumbai but fail to recognise the resilience of Dilliwalas shown in the face of obstacles.

Mumbaikars get killed in various ways - floods, platform collapses, terror attacks, high rentals, communal riots, never-ending commutes, sleeping on pavements, and much more. Yet they wake up the next day and carry on with their live like nothing's happened while the rest of India stands up to sing the national anthem in Marathi to salute this undying spirit of Mumbai.

Did people stop using the Mumbai local after the Elphinstone Road railway station tragedy? Did they stop jumping in puddles after a doctor drowned in a manhole? Did they learn anything at all after the riots of 1992-1993? Absolutely not.

But why is the respect missing when Dilliwalas brave rapes, parking spats, friendly quarrels, extreme weather, drug overdose, boys angry at being turned down at clubs and of late also the smog - all of which end up killing them? They also wake up every day and go for their runs and then to work not caring about the smog. They also go back to the clubs and continue to reject angry Delhi boys and have fights with the parking attendants. Why is this not glorified as the "spirit of Delhi"?

I mean, just last week a friend of mine coughed blood because of the smog and even the doctor told him that it would pass. He's got the spirit. My wife recently had to fight with a south Delhi boy over a parking spot knowing well enough that he could pull out a gun and kill her - or worse; yet she continues to park her car in the same area. She's got the spirit. And I continue to travel on the expressway everyday in spite of the limited visibility with a 3/10 chance of dying by running into a stationary truck hidden behind the veil of smog. I've got the bloody spirit.

Our spirit also needs recognition. This discrimination must end right away.

And the only way to end it is by getting rid of this romanticisation with the so-called "spirit" of any bloody city. It's hardly spirit; it's more of people's apathy towards genuine problems that plague their cities. This is not just about Delhi, Mumbai, or any other metropolitan city but the country as a whole. I can confidently say this for the majority - we are all like this. We just don't care.

What the hell are we even supposed to do though? We work five-six days a week for about 9-11 hours every day on an average. We've got bills to pay and debts to clear. We've got relationship issues and parents to take care of. We've got clients to please and friends to meet. We've got shows to watch and weed to smoke. We've got enough on our plates to even start bothering about the smog that doesn't impact us visibly in the short-term or the rapes that have never happened to anyone we know or murders as we've never been murdered ourselves or the floods which haven't drowned us yet or cars that haven't run us over. So why should we care? We can't stop working or studying. Life has to move on. We're all in a race we're never going to win and we're ok with it.

And in doing the above, we also get appreciated for showing a resilient spirit towards our cities and its issues. That's incentive enough to not care.

I'm honest enough to accept that I'm an average man with an average life and average needs. I'm not here to change the world. There are people who are doing that. My wife works with an NGO and that's great. There are more people like her and they're doing the best they can. I, on the other hand, like my weekend binge drinking. I like my 2-BHK in Greater Noida which will see me pay EMIs for the next 25 years. I like my job, which doesn't satisfy me. I like my struggle to get fit and get rid of my man boobs. I like my dreams and ambitions fading away with each passing day as I spend more and more time at work and later, at the bar. I've got to plan for a kid and secure my future. I'm the average man of India. I'm a common citizen. And as long as I'm not doing anything wrong and making things worse, I'm not going to take the blame for the mess around us.

It is unfair to blame the common citizens. Had successive governments done their jobs and the civic agencies taken care of their shit, we wouldn't be in such a horrible position right now. But that's a bit too much to ask for, right? I mean, we're asking public servants to do their jobs - WHOA! How dare we ask of them such a big task? Who the hell do we think we are? Tch.

I'm not sure when we will learn.

There's nothing we can do about it unless we start a revolution right away. We need a bloody Rang De Basanti happening in real life. That's what we need and that's what can probably make a difference. So the question is - are there enough people who have the real spirit to sacrifice their lives? No. I didn't think so.

Let's just continue to be apathetic towards our problems. In all likelihood, these issues will not impact us in our lifetimes and we shouldn't really care what happens once we die. So let it be and let's celebrate the spirit of India.

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