'Descendants of jhuggis': Noida vs Gurugram sparked on social media after Suhel Seth's quip
Many Noida residents stress it has ‘better facilities’ than Gurugram; some try to strike balance, calling for no need to compare but improve overall civic infra
Which one of Delhi and its sister cities — Gurugram and Noida — is better to live in? What have this year's rains told us? And are we being classist if we choose Noida over Gurugram, or vice versa? These questions are flying thick and fast in the most recent Noida-versus-Gurugram row sparked online after posts reacting to some comments by marketing guru Suhel Seth on a podcast.
A Noida resident, lawyer Gauri Khanna, reacted on X to a clip of an ANI podcast where Suhel Seth was a guest along with former Delhi chief secretary Omesh Saigal.
In the clip, Omaish Saigal says that “jhuggis (slums) were taken to Noida during the Emergency” imposed between 1975 and 1977 by the then PM Indira Gandhi, with the intention to clear Delhi of slums.
“I think Noida people should know that they were actually the descendants of jhuggis,” remarked Suhel Seth, who has been at the forefront of a civil society outcry by Gurugram residents for better facilities.
In the full podcast, Seth made points about how Gurugram is a city where millionaires “live in slum-like environment”. On balance, both he and the former chief secretary made points about the need to plan better for Delhi as well.
Khanna reacted pointedly to the remarks about Noida in the clip: “The conversation was dripping with classism and I feel the need to set the record right.”
She argued, “During the Emergency, when jhuggi demolitions happened, families were resettled within Delhi itself.... Not in Noida.”
She said Noida was founded in 1976 as a planned industrial township “to decongest Delhi’s industries from non-conforming areas”.
To be clear, this wider point about shifting industry was also made by Omaish Saigal in the clip and the full video.
Khanna, however, took umbrage specifically to Suhel Seth's comment about how “those guys believe they live in Manhattan”. She said the comparison with Manhattan was fair “because unlike Delhi/Gurgaon, we don’t get stuck in 6-hour-long/regular traffic jams every time it rains and even when it doesn’t!”
Under her post, military veteran Sandeep Thapar added that he's lived in both Gurugram and Greater Noida, and finds the latter “far better developed” in terms of layout, drainage, traffic and connectivity.
He said Noida has most facilities that Gurugram has, while Greater Noida is still getting them. Once the Jewar airport is fully operational, “I doubt (people) will look at (Gurugram)”, he said.
In the ongoing online debate, an X page on Sunday also shared a video of the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway as the “new destination for corporates offices in NCR”.
A user named Meenakshi Arya commented that Noida-Delhi entry-exit points remain a problem: “Ye theek ho jaye bas (If only that is resolved).”
Another user also pointed out that Noida too has potholes in many areas.
A user named Balram Singh, however, said it was not just about civic facilities or the rains. “Gurgaon (Gurugram) is in a different league, no comparison. It's the people living there [that] makes a difference,” he argued. He listed its location next to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, besides its working space, hospitals, golf courses and startup ecosystem among Gurugram's “pillars”.
Another user sought to move beyond the debate. “This language of competition is doing more harm to our cities than anything. Sustainable growth of every city is more important than calling out one as hyped or non-hyped,” the user posted.
In a recent article for HT, too, Suhel Seth, while not making a dedicated comparison with Noida, wrote how the story of Gurugram “is not one to be proud of — it is one to be ashamed of”.
