Total Bunkus!

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Cyrus Brocha, MTV Veejay
"Who is Reader's Digest? I stopped reading it at 13."

How rude of you to wake up so late to this story! Everyone else has already written about it. Anyway, I haven't been to many cities, only to Panvel and Pune, besides Mumbai, so if Outlook could sponsor my trips to New York, London and Frankfurt, I could do an indepth study on what makes for the rudest city in the world. But yes, we are rude. It's against our culture to say 'please' and 'thank you'. We have this 'touching syndrome'—whether you're in an elevator or on the road or in the bus, nobody will attempt to not touch you, or to stand in their own space. I mean, at a place like Colaba Causeway, you feel violated seven to eight times in two minutes.... By the way, who is Reader's Digest anyway and why do we care? I stopped reading it when I was 13!

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Aamir Khan, film star
"People helped each other spontaneously when Mumbai was flooded."

I have lived in Mumbai my entire life. I have never found it rude. In fact, I find it extremely warm and helpful. The spirit of Mumbai was evident last year when the city was flooded. People helped each other spontaneously; they helped complete strangers no matter who they were or where they came from. It was one human being reaching out to another. There was no hooliganism. It was a classic situation where law and order could have easily broken down but that didn't happen. It was a tough four days in which the people of Mumbai showed their character and strength.

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Murli Deora, Union minister and former president, Mumbai Congress
"Mumbai is much friendlier than New York and Washington."

I totally disagree with the finding of the Reader's Digest survey...their grounds are so flimsy. When I compare Mumbai to New York, Washington and other cities to which I travel so much, I can say whole-heartedly that Mumbai is a much more warm and friendly city, and you see this warmth reflected in many ways, at many places. Whatever the circumstances, Mumbaikars act with courtesy and in a civilised manner. Considering the pressures of time and space, that itself is an achievement.

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Karan Johar, filmmaker
"Bombay is an adapting, accepting, affable city."

I can't digest what Reader's Digest has to say. Mumbai is an adapting, accepting, warm and affable city. People from other cities and countries who have come into Mumbai have found it extremely welcoming. As far as street manners are concerned, every city and country has problems, be it Italy, France, Mumbai or Delhi. So why put Mumbai way above others?

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Uddhav Thackeray working president, Shiv Sena
"Those who come to Mumbai never return empty-handed."

There is no one as tolerant, accommodating and giving as the Mumbaikar. Generally, the city and its citizens have been the givers, not takers of everything from humanity and money to ideas and industry. Those who come to Mumbai never return empty-handed—that's because Mumbaikars accommodate them somehow, somewhere, and have the ability to rise to any challenge...it's just that they're too busy making their own lives to care about saying 'please' and 'thank you' all the time. I think Reader's Digest could not digest this attitude. We as Mumbaikars cannot digest their findings.

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Jehangir Sabavala, Painter
"All cities are pretty rude anyway."

All cities are pretty rude anyway. Manners and courtesies like opening doors for others and letting other or older people go first are totally missing. This is my biggest grouse against the present generation. As for Mumbai, I don't think it's the rudest city in the world. It's much on par with others, considering the general decline in manners.

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Madhur Bhandarkar, Filmmaker
"It's the sweetest city."

It's the sweetest city. It's a most approachable city too. You can ask for any address, when you have a tyre puncture, you can ask which bus to catch to reach somewhere and there's always somebody to help out. Every city has its share of crime and the underside. Why target Bombay? I am a complete Mumbaikar, born and brought up in Bandra, and I can say with conviction that this is not a rude city at all.

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Kekoo Gandhy Gallery owner and art collector
"Nowhere else do I get 'uncled' so much."

The survey does come as a rude shock but maybe it's worth giving it some serious thought. My personal experience is that people are courteous, giving, and show unexpected respect for the elderly on the streets, at public places. Nowhere else do I get 'uncled' in this manner. I work with the mohalla committees as well, and find that slum dwellers are so appreciative and responsive that I feel that the core of our culture is intact, not corrupted by poverty. In fact, it's the new rich that display an amazing lack of manners and lack of concern.

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Achala Sachdev, Fashion choreographer

"Rude is what New Yorkers are when you ask them for directions."

I don't think you can judge a city by these three criteria. There are many places where they say 'thank you' and 'please' a hundred times, but it means nothing. Rude is what the New Yorkers are when you ask them for directions and they ignore you; or the French, who have such a chip on their shoulder about being French. But I think we could do with learning to treat all people—including our sweepers, drivers and maids—as our equals.