Delhiites turn saviours in the hour of disaster

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When the capital witnessed an unfortunate incident recently when a building collapsed in the Laxmi Nagar area, it was the so called “insensitive” people of the capital who rescued hapless victims even before the cops and ambulance arrived. More than 50 were killed and several injured. But this is not the first time that this has happened, during the sarojini nagar and Greater kailash blasts people turned saviours. Then why is the city given this harsh tag of being heartless?

Shounak Lahiri, who came to Delhi eight years ago to study and is now working with an advertising firm, says that there is a reason behind why Delhi is called “brutal”. He thinks people in the capital are not warm to outsiders. Even he found the people of Delhi very rude on his first visit. “Once when my friend fell from a running bus, nobody helped,” says Shounak. “People are boastful by nature and if they lend a helping hand, they like to talk about it,” he adds.
Surprisingly, residents of the capital agree. Says Meeshu Gupta, a secondary school teacher, “Living in a metropolitan, we have developed a unique lifestyle and I-don’t-care attitude. We don’t talk to our neighbours and we live in our own microcosm. But here is the catch, if we talk people think we are too interfering and if we don’t they think we are just too haughty, so what does one do?”
On the contrary, many believe that in acute crisis, you will always find help and there are people who will assist you and want nothing in return. Divij Krishna, a PR professional, who came to Delhi a few years ago, says that he has got help from his neighbours and friends whenever he was in trouble. “People here are not insensitive, they are just hesitant to go out and help. But if you ask them, they will never say no,” he says.
“The recent case at Laxmi Nagar is one such example. Hundreds of people came in to help. They rescued the victims and the even helped the cops later,” adds Kiran Kaushik, a media professional.
Sandhya Gupta, a marketing executive was mugged in broad daylight and much to her horror nobody helped when a gun was pointed at her. She surrendered her bag and lost all her money. But she feels that the people of laxmi nagar have proved that humanity still exists and that there are still some good people who seeing anothers in trouble will do anything to lend a helping hand. “I saw on TV how people were joining hands to remove victims who were trapped under the debris,” she says.