Harsh rules make city uncaring towards poor
When a nine-month pregnant woman was fighting for her life, on the busy street of Shankar Market in Connaught Place recently, Delhi seemed too busy to even notice her plight. With no help from a city, which is home to more than a million people, the woman died on the spot giving birth to a child. Blame it on the metropolitan way of living, or sheer carelessness — there’s something that makes the capital insensitive. Delhiites share their side of the story.
“I believe it comes with the baggage of living in a metro. Life is so fast-paced, and busy, that no one has time to sit back and take notice of what the other person is going through. I’ve seen a drastic change in the attitudes of people even at the workplace. We don’t even understand if one of our colleagues is going through a bad phase, forget about people on the road,” says Vijay, a marketing expert.
With many of us waking up to news about rapes, murders, and accidents, the escalating crime rate has made many Delhiites indifferent. “We don’t know how to react when we wake up everyday reading about a girl being raped and families being murdered. Delhi has lost value for human life. The frequency of such incidents has left us cold. We’re living in a city where you can’t really trust anybody,” says stock market analyst Abhishek Sharma.
Experts however blame technology, competition for this self-centered attitude. “Cut-throat competition even in the smallest things has also lead to an egotistical attitude. And young kids are learning it from elders. Children are being taught to ‘keep to themselves’, and that’s how they grow up. Nobody cares if someone is hurt or lying on the road. Children see this, and learn it from them,” says Dr Rima Sehgal, counselor, Bal Bharti Public School, Brij Vihar.
For the ones who want to help, are apprehensive to do so because of the attitude of the cops in the capital. Monica Nathani, a student shares, “Just a few days back I saw a man lying in a pool of blood on the road near Brar Square. I wanted to help, but I didn’t want to be falsely implicated in the case. Usually cops end up harassing those who help, which is one reason why most people avoid interfering.”
Shreya, who works with PR firm says there was a man lying on the road just outside our house and was bleeding profusely. “When I asked my dad to take him to the hospital, I was told that this is a police case, and all we can do it call the cops. The system has to change for us to be able to help people in such times,” she adds.
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