People of Delhi

By Ankita Sharma

The People of Delhi are a mixed bag of Indians, Pakistanis and Immigrants and hence it greatly influences the kind of lifestyle and culture that they follow. Given the fact that this city was once ruled by many dynasties, it is but obvious that the descendants of people who have survived the Turkic, Afghans, Mamluks, Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi, Mughals, Marathas and British rule are seen influenced while the freedom fights and Partition, neighbouring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have also contributed to the way the people are today which are by and large multi-cultured and multi-linguistic.

People of Delhi call themselves ‘Delhi-ites’ and have got accustomed to embracing new traditions and cultures and at the same time keeping with their old and religious traditions. The people are an amalgamation of various castes, religious sects and creed that live in peace and harmony.

Through the years Delhi has seen a lot of immigrants owning to the growth in industries, infrastructure and new outsourced companies creating opportunities of employment and attracting skilled people from other states to migrate to this city as company resource demand increases and hence adding more to the diverse mindsets and driving a more competitive edge for Real Estate Agencies and Companies to look for options to create more living space and earn more profits thus also improving the economic standards of the city. However, on the contrary, it has also seen a 50% increase in population and Delhi had to resort to expand its territory by sharing area space with its neighbouring states.

The heavy population has also led to more traffic thus decreasing the rate of tolerance and patience of people and many are seen losing their anger at each other and driving very rashly just to reach their workplace or destination faster leading to accidents. One will also notice that this only shows the hyper-reactive nature of people and this can really tarnish the reputation of Delhi people. It is also imperative to understand that a change for good can only come from self realisation and understanding of the fact that nobody wants to intentionally harm you or your vehicle and that it is better to reach late than never. Otherwise, the people by themselves are overtly friendly and have a warm and welcoming nature that needs to come out more.

Delhi people are an amalgamation of different religious sects starting with majority of Hindus followed by Muslims, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and other smaller religious sects and people are also seen enjoying and celebrating all the festivals of these religious sects together and in harmony. This shows the open heartedness and liveliness of people who are ready to accept secularism and diversity in religion and at times are seen joining hands and coming together for common causes which are broadcasted in media and the News.

While we proudly boasts of development, a few people in Delhi still fall under the poverty line and many jhuggies are seen dotting the city; though it is not encouraged but these are the people who form the main domestic help for the richer societies and hence measures must be taken to see that they at least have a proper roof over their heads and live under proper hygienic conditions.

Another factor that is disturbing is the crime rate that has been increasing drastically through the years including terrorist attacks that must definitely be condemned. The unsolved cases of robberies, rape, murders and extortion is a serious affair and this just throws a very bad reputation and a black mark on the people of Delhi and has led to the city being called the crime capital of India. This is a wakeup call for all delhiites to fight against such injustice and crime and restore the dignity of the city back to when the people were called as the ‘Dilli ke Dilwale’ or the ‘Open hearted people of Delhi’.

Today, a very few percentage of the real and inherent inhabitants of people can still proudly call themselves the real Delhi Dilwale as the other major part of the population consists of people originating from Haryana, the Jats, Rajasthanis, Punjabis, Lahore and Pakistanis post partition.

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