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WHICH IS THE CLEANEST CITY IN INDIA?
I am an unpopular guy among some people for my assertion that in a serious discussion one must avoid saying ‘ I feel’ ‘I think’ ‘I believe’ and such terms that betray the lack of facts and figures and near total recourse to one’s biases and prejudices.
A friend of mine nearly came to blows with me when I remarked that for a person with a PhD to her credit she was rather disdainful about facts and research. The occasion for the brawl was when she remarked that among the three cities she was familiar with she found Chennai most bereft of toilet facilities with most roads serving as open air toilets. I asked her if she had any specific data to support her contention or did she rely on her usual ‘ I feel’ approach. I asked her whether it was the PhD in her that made this assessment or it was the Chennai baiter that she most certainly was. ‘Mumbai is unmatched’ she declared . At this point she almost assaulted me. I gently told her that her PhD guide might have taught her that anecdotal evidence is not science.
I was in luck ,for the very next day the Union Ministry of Urban Development let out a list of 400 Indian cities ranked in descending order of sanitation. Guess what ?Chandigarh was adjudged the best followed by Mysore and Surat. Bangalore was 13 th Chennai 14 th.
. Mumbai ?A distant 45 th !!
I asked my PhD friend to watch the TV channel announcing this news The anchor went around the streets of Mumbai asking people what they felt about their city being ranked so low One young man who felt hurt but was unwilling to face facts looked scornfully at the camera and said ‘Mumbai is still far better that many other cities’
Famous last words . .
As for my PhD friend I told her that many of us are the type that does not let facts come in that way of our opinion formation.
K.R.RAVI
