Random thoughts peeping into the streets of Mumbai…

It was barely a couple of years ago. Newspapers and news channels flashed news about a Readers’ Digest survey which proclaimed Mumbai to be the rudest city in the world (ranked 36th). And then, of course followed the opposing versions and refutes by the Mumbaikars. Honestly, at that time I believed Mumbai was indeed the rudest city in the world on a relative scale. I presumed, a worldwide reputed magazine publisher ought to have dispensed adequate efforts on R&D and the survey must have been backed up by evidences.

But a one-off incident on a typical weekday, on my way to the office gripped my attention. The Mumbai Indian within me woke up and then my random thoughts pondered over ‘the rudest city’ chapter of June 2006…

The incident goes something like this:
There was this old lady in my bus waiting impatiently to buy a ticket with a Rs.100 note. The TC refuses to give her the ticket and tells her to produce a lower denomination note. An argument ensues and she gets even more impatient each time. Both of them ran out of change and therefore out of options. Finally the TC even suggests that she travel ticket-less on the pretext that being an old lady, she could get away with some excuse if got caught. But she was getting all the more tensed. Finally, becoming aware of the apprehension of the old lady, another lady bought the Rs.10 ticket for her. The old lady could only repay Rs.2 but the smile and relief on her face articulated her gratitude all the more. Rather than being passive and unresponsive, the lady did show her concern towards her and thus her involvement. This was just a simple episode of the routine daily life series. Not so important yet so significant an event to make an impact on one’s life.

These are human responsiveness to circumstances. The crisis situations during the Mumbai floods of 26th July 2005 and the Mumbai train bombings of 11th July 2006 also have highlighted the healthier face of humanity that Mumbai displayed. I am not stating that Mumbaikars are the ‘helpful’ and ‘rising to the occasion’ lot of people and that deeming Mumbai as the rudest city should be condemned. The incident could have occurred anywhere in the world. But terming one city as rude vis-à-vis another should be validated.

In fact, Mumbai has its share of grey shades too. The displeasure expressed by Yuvraj Singh (captain of the Kings XI Punjab team) after their victory over the Mumbai Indians in Mumbai during an IPL match corroborates the fact. Cheering and rooting for the home team is but natural, but what would you call slamming, reproving every move of the non-home team? I had witnessed the Mumbai Indians versus Kolkata Knight Riders match at Wankhede. The other team had to only settle with the boos and cat-calls of the crowd. Shoaib Akhtar gets Tendulkar out and what he gets to hear is a series of foul and offensive terms from the roaring mob. All he could do is turn to the crowd and give a helpless expression of ‘Isn’t that what I’m supposed to be doing? Isn’t that what I’m getting paid for?’ It was indeed a sad sight. My heart reached out to them. But it was a mere hundred like me against thirty thousands.

And now somehow, with the Mumbai Indians not having qualified for the semi-finals, hopefully we can expect a neutral crowd, a good match and the best team winning, keeping in view that both the semi-finals and the final are going to be played in Mumbai.

On the other hand, the Bangalore crowd seems most matured. Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur too are sporting enough. But the Eden Gardens, Kolkata crowd bears some resemblance to Mumbai’s. Mumbai too like Kolkata, is highly fanatical and obsessive as far as the State is concerned, evident from the latest MNS’s and Shiv Sena’s ‘Mumbai aamchi aahe’ and ‘Vada-Pav’ moves respectively in Mumbai. Actually, the ‘Vada Pav’ is, a great initiative – converting Mumbai’s roadside stalls into a business chain a la McDonald’s. Imagine the amount of employment it would generate for an aam aadmi, or rather for a marathi manoos considering the MNS’s orders to grant jobs equally to all (read Maharashtrians).

It so happens that the Readers’ Digest survey declared New York as the politest city followed by Zurich and Toronto. But as far as my knowledge goes and also from hearsay, Japan is one of the politest countries in the world. But Tokyo or any of the other cities, did not find a place anywhere on the list. Ironically, Asia was termed to be the rudest continent. ‘Asians lacked courtesy’! Courtesy has only one definition irrespective of the region, though they don’t realise that the gestures and expressions tend to differ.

According to news reports, the magazine sent its undercover reporters to 36 cities in 35 countries in the world. The parameters for the survey were:

• whether the people kept the door open for the reporters while entering a building;
• whether the salespeople in a store thanked the reporters on a purchase;
• and whether they were helped in collecting flying papers when they intentionally dropped a folder full of papers at a crowded place.

These might seem necessary but not sufficient enough parameters of judgement. There should be clear-cut judgement factors tailored to the region-wise customs and mannerisms being followed. It somehow doesn’t define itself as an ‘inclusive’ sample when the population is the entire world comprising 195 countries. It doesn’t cover half the population considering 1 city represents 1 country. It may also be termed uneven - it included 2 cities from Canada (see list alongside - courtesy:Readers' Digest). It may have been a convenience sampling. And there is no stated theory to verify how the sample is an actual representation of the population.

So irrespective of the nature of the sample, one has no say on the inference of a survey. Moreover, the magazine overtly stated that the survey was unscientific. Tagging Mumbai, or for that matter any city as the rudest city is acceptable provided the findings can be substantiated by an efficient and effective sample frame. Such unsought-for steps in the name of surveys are only avoidable rather than creating rift between cities, countries and continents.