So how seriously should we take the survey? Take it with not a pinch but loads of salt, I would say. The fundamental problem with such surveys is that they are always relative. Relative to the place, people and time it is conducted. The sobriquet itself defeats any possibility of objective absolutism. It is a highly subjective affair. There can be no definite statements. No final say. Such superlative adjectives do not lend themselves too easily to hermetically sealed solutions. We need to pause before putting the tiara on Mumbai's uneasy head.
Take a look at the criteria devised. It is all about picking up dropped objects, holding doors open and uttering 'thank yous.' Really! Now even the lousiest Literature student will tell you how very Victorian these yardsticks are. Can these genteel mannerisms apply all over the world? How could Readers Digest, one of the most reputed magazines of the world, be so blind to the fact that different places have their own different cultures? A Piccadilly Circus is notches different from Chowpatty. Politeness instantly becomes a relative term when you are talking about 35 different cities right across the globe and you don't need an Einstein to explain that. What is oh so prim and propah in the West need not and indeed is not the case in the East. The survey declaring Asia to be a rude continent smacks of the typical Third World attitude of the Occident. (Is that why the Big Apple has fared so well?) And anyways the West must not forget that rudeness is any day better than something called racial discrimination.
And Mumbai of all places! The primary mystery is why only Mumbai was chosen for the experiment? No one can deny the spirit of the city. It is one city where a woman can return home safely after a late night-shift most of the time. A city where people waded through knee-deep water to help each other during the floods of 26/7. A city which does not have a 'polite' face but a robust heart. The West may brand it as the spoilt kid but let us not forget that Mumbai is their destination for BPOs which are all about polite talk! Of course Mumbai is no Pollyanna. It has its share of faults. It needs lessons in chivalry. Most of the time Mumbaikars are too wrapped up in themselves to bother about others. Nobody will go out of their way to help a person. Mumbai is known for its casual nature. Yet to call it the rudest city on the planet is being just too extremist.
And what is worse is when a leading daily in Delhi starts making comparisons between Mumbai and Delhi to fill up the front-page of its supplement. Now why did this crop up? What was the need? Is that a silent smirk on Delhi's lips? Or boring weekend journalism? We need to grow out big time of these juvenile intra-national skirmishes. If we have to move on, we have to evolve out of the Delhi-Mumbai arm wrestling or the India-Pakistan polarity.
We must be careful folks. Very careful. After all as the survey states, the world is only 55% polite.
first published:June 28, 2006, 20:55 ISTlast updated:June 28, 2006, 20:55 IST
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Readers Digest woke up one morning. Readers Digest had a bright new idea. Readers Digest thought of taking a survey to find out which is the 'Rudest City' on post-lapsarian earth today. Readers Digest sent 2000 of its employees to on the mission. Readers Digest's employees came back with precious data. And Readers Digest presented the unanimous verdict....Its amchi Mumbai folks that needs urgent lessons in etiquette. And as is always the case with such surveys, the post mortem has begun. Or as Agatha Christie would say, the Inquest starts.
So how seriously should we take the survey? Take it with not a pinch but loads of salt, I would say. The fundamental problem with such surveys is that they are always relative. Relative to the place, people and time it is conducted. The sobriquet itself defeats any possibility of objective absolutism. It is a highly subjective affair. There can be no definite statements. No final say. Such superlative adjectives do not lend themselves too easily to hermetically sealed solutions. We need to pause before putting the tiara on Mumbai's uneasy head.
Take a look at the criteria devised. It is all about picking up dropped objects, holding doors open and uttering 'thank yous.' Really! Now even the lousiest Literature student will tell you how very Victorian these yardsticks are. Can these genteel mannerisms apply all over the world? How could Readers Digest, one of the most reputed magazines of the world, be so blind to the fact that different places have their own different cultures? A Piccadilly Circus is notches different from Chowpatty. Politeness instantly becomes a relative term when you are talking about 35 different cities right across the globe and you don't need an Einstein to explain that. What is oh so prim and propah in the West need not and indeed is not the case in the East. The survey declaring Asia to be a rude continent smacks of the typical Third World attitude of the Occident. (Is that why the Big Apple has fared so well?) And anyways the West must not forget that rudeness is any day better than something called racial discrimination.
And Mumbai of all places! The primary mystery is why only Mumbai was chosen for the experiment? No one can deny the spirit of the city. It is one city where a woman can return home safely after a late night-shift most of the time. A city where people waded through knee-deep water to help each other during the floods of 26/7. A city which does not have a 'polite' face but a robust heart. The West may brand it as the spoilt kid but let us not forget that Mumbai is their destination for BPOs which are all about polite talk! Of course Mumbai is no Pollyanna. It has its share of faults. It needs lessons in chivalry. Most of the time Mumbaikars are too wrapped up in themselves to bother about others. Nobody will go out of their way to help a person. Mumbai is known for its casual nature. Yet to call it the rudest city on the planet is being just too extremist.
And what is worse is when a leading daily in Delhi starts making comparisons between Mumbai and Delhi to fill up the front-page of its supplement. Now why did this crop up? What was the need? Is that a silent smirk on Delhi's lips? Or boring weekend journalism? We need to grow out big time of these juvenile intra-national skirmishes. If we have to move on, we have to evolve out of the Delhi-Mumbai arm wrestling or the India-Pakistan polarity.
We must be careful folks. Very careful. After all as the survey states, the world is only 55% polite.
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