Life in a metro: This Quora thread brilliantly captures life in different Indian cities

While social media websites like Twitter and Facebook has seen enough Delhi vs Mumbai debates, a recent Quora thread asked a questions that could compare life styles in different metros in India, without turning it into a heated debate.

The thread asked “In what ways is a normal day in Mumbai different from one in other big cities in India like Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata or Bengaluru?”

And it evoked some hilarious answers comparing how life is starkly different in Delhi and Mumbai and even other cities like Bangalore and Pune.

Here’s how Quora user Vipin Kumar, who describes himself as a banker and author, describes his day in Mumbai and in Delhi. Especially when it’s time to get back home from work.

Mumbai: Wake up. Switch off the fan.

Delhi: Wake up. If it’s summer, switch off the cooler, if it’s winter get out of rajai ( you don’t want to but have to). Curse your job for making you get out of that warm, comfy rajai.

Mumbai: Freshen up. Brush and then take a bath.

Delhi: Do the same except if it’s winter you curse the gods in the toilet. Mumbai: Make breakfast, look at the clock and say “Shit, I will miss 7:15 CST Fast if I don’t hurry up”. Put your breakfast on the table, run around the house to find your bag, shoes and inbetween all that running you bite your breakfast.

Delhi: Eat your breakfast. Dress up. Leave home.

"Mumbai: You are in the compartment sitting comfortably near the window seat and nothing in the world matter now. IT’S THE WINDOW SEAT!!. You smile and buy that 5 Rs singdaana (salted peanuts ) from the vendor. The train moves and you look out of the window munching on the salted peanut and think about your day. You know you look like a philosopher now with you staring out of the window and air blowing away your hair. You get down at your station, buy vegetable and signal down a rickshaw. If you are lucky the first one will be ready or the next but you know that there is that statistics which says that 1 in 5 rickshaw driver of Mumbai will accept you as a passenger. You get nervous when you reach number 4. Anyhow, you reach home and it’s 10:00 PM. You order your food, it’s get delivered at 10:45. You never worry about the food, because you know you can have food delivered to your door step at freaking 2:30 AM. You eat, watch TV. Talk your Mom and Dad. The discussion is same “Arey Kanpur waale mausa ji rishta leke aaye hai …ladki ne MBA kiya hua hai” ( Your uncle from Kanpur has brought a marriage proposal. The girl is an MBA ) . You somehow convince them that you are tired and want to go to sleep. 11:50 PM, you are in bed thinking about your lost love.

Delhi: You somehow get in the train and find a place to sit, next to the seat reserved for the ladies. After sometime an auntie comes and says “Bhaiyya ladies seat hai”. You turn around and see that it’s not a ladies seat. Yet you stand up and give your seat to the auntie. “Auntie, ji aap baith jao, koi baat ni”. You pass your time while playing candy crush and thinking " Thand ho gi hai kaafi, old monk le leta hu Bunty ke yahan se " ( It’s chilly outside. I should buy old monk from Bunty). You get down, buy your old monk and chicken tandoori, put them in a black polythene and leave for home. You come home and ring the bell. Suneeta aunty opens the door and says “Arrey beta, raajma chawal banaaye hai, khaoge?” ( I have cooked Raajma curry and Rice, do you want some? ). You politely decline it and go straight to your floor. You close the door and put the old monk on the table. After freshening up you switch on the TV and watch whatever is on. Couple of pegs down and you start making calls to your college buddies. It’s 10:30 and you make your last call to your Mom “Jaipur waale uncle rishta leke aaye hai…ladki engineer hai” (You uncle from Jaipur has brought a marriage proposal. The girl is an engineer ). You somehow change the topic and then hang up. It’s 10:40 and you are in the bed, thinking about your lost love. “

Meanwhile user Ajinkya Chikte, who has lived in Pune, Bangalore and Mumbai describes morning chai time and breakfast:

”Waking up Mumbai - Wake with traffic noise and sudden heat, hours before work. Bangalore - Wake with alarm clock, right on time for work. Pune - Wake whenever. No work. Chill.

2. Morning Chai Mumbai - Look left, look right, choose one of 17 tapris, get chai. Bangalore - Walk a mile to closest chaiwala-bakery, hope he’s open. Pune - Walk to the corner, take a left: chai tapri.

3. Breakfast Mumbai - No time for breakfast (or eat wada pav while in taxi). Bangalore - Vada sambar or idli from the stand-&-eat joint next door. Pune - Walk to the corner, take a left: poha stall."

While commuting from one place to the other can be difficult in all cities, Delhiite Ayushi Mona heaps praise on Mumbai:

“No one will stare at you. If you smile at anyone, they will smile at you. (Unlike all other cities) No one cares what you are wearing. Truly.

There is no difference between coming back home at 6 and coming back home at 10.

If you truly want to understand the difference between Mumbai and Delhi and are a woman, Just compare your traveling experience in the Delhi Metro’s ladies coach and the Ladies Special/Ladies Coach.”

No one’s got the time. To eve tease, to hold a grudge, to pick a fight. People will move on, so will you.

Read the entire  Quora thread here .