new delhi the fast began in tihar jail on tuesday by the time the police agreed to the terms set by anna hazare friday had arrived thousands flooded ramlila maidan where the social activist had been permitted to stage his protest the cynics predicted that the crowd would peak during the weekend and peter out the following weekthey were wrong the multitude held firm through the week they shouted pungent slogans saare yuva yahaan hain rahul gandhi kahaan hai waved the tricolor danced in sunshine and sang in rain across the city rwas brought out small candlelight demonstrations artists sprayed graffiti barring one minor late night incident there wasnt a single incident of violence no destruction of public property no molestation or eveteasingin a venue poised between two delhis the old and the new the city and its citizens surprised everybody with a kind of new collective behaviour this was a different delhi on display there seems to be a new consciousness about setting and following norms of selfgovernance and selfdiscipline especially in public spaces says sociologist yogendra singhfor decades delhi has been reviled as a selfcentred city which often turned violent to many the city celebrating its 100th year since the national capital moved here personified the paradox of being indias political centre yet playing host to 17 million apolitical peoplethe allegation was partly justified in the 1990s and earlier delhi was primarily an unwilling resentful recipient of political rallies the mandal agitation was a possible exception but it was violent and destructive but this was differentas columnist santosh desai puts it people are finally beginning to take responsibility for something larger than themselves there is a positive change in the citys social behaviourchanges are processes not incidents but perhaps february 21 2006 is a crucial date in the social evolution of delhi that was the day the city discovered that no one had killed jessica lall that judgment was a shock therapy to a people for whom apathy was the norm the case gave them a cause to campaign forsince that day many stopped being fence sitters that was perhaps the beginning of dilliwallahs redefining their own engagement with society the change was also evident in the reaction to the priyardarshini mattoo case a law student stalked and murdered by fellow student santosh singh a public campaign forced a retrial ultimately leading to santoshs convictionperhaps delhi has changed more than we have noticed or bothered to examine the absence of eveteasing during the allnight world cup 2011 win celebrations across the city or during the anticorruption movement werent aberrations rather they encapsulated larger city trends between 2006 and 2009 eveteasing dropped by 57 and women molestation by 23 police records showdesai feels that the change has come with a much easier relationship of genders there are more platforms for social interaction he says with easy availability of technology fantasy has given way to access and reality you dont just stare at the girl you just