delhi vs. mumbai - I

this one's going to rub some people the wrong way! (all views expressed here are the personal opinions of the writer and may or may not necessarily be a true reflection of reality! but here goes, nonetheless.)

the comparison between delhi and mumbai is one of the oldest debates known to mankind and will continue till doomsday with neither side willing to budge an inch. i'm not surprised there are numerous blogs on this topic.

what i'd like to do is compare the two cities on certain parameters based on my personal experience.

1. infrastructure - delhi beats mumbai hands-down here. and that's a bug-bear which most mumbaikars hold against delhi. there's always a lot of animated debate in the media about the revenue contribution by mumbai to the centre as compared to delhi and the proportion of funds that gets allotted back to the city.

2. public transportation - the metro is something mumbai is aspiring for. but apart from that, public transportation is far better in mumbai. 'best' buses and the 'local trains' are more reliable and safer. (ask any lady in delhi if she would travel alone in a bus or train in delhi after 8 pm.)

even the taxis and autos in mumbai score much better. they are, by and large, reliable, relatively more honest and its unlikely that they would take you for a ride, literally and figuratively.

3. power - the situation in mumbai is threatening to get worse. but the situation in delhi is much worse with no signs of any significant improvement in the near future. one expects the capital of the country to have adequate power. the state government just doesn't seem to manage to fix the 'power pilferage' problem.

in my next post i will cover 'work ethics', 'people', food', 'water', and 'academics'.

do let me know if there are any other parameters that you would include!