It is true that motorists in South Indian cities are more 'civilised' than North Indian cities (not using that in a condescending way). The cleanest railway stations are in Kerala, followed by Himachal Pradesh. Kalka area is total trash though.
Most of the North Indian cities are chaotic and aggressive.
I have seen the traffic police fine a car driver for spitting on the road near President's House. I have always loved the cleanliness of Chanakyapuri area. Old Delhi is also trash. One North Indian city I absolutely loved in Chandigarh. Stands out. Gurgaon was also nice, but seemed rather 'concretised' and lifeless.
The rudest suburban commuters can be found in the Calcutta and Mumbai region. Try boarding a Virar Fast from Borivali. Those buggers will not let anyone from Borivali board the train, even if there was space inside. They'd stand at the entrance and block it. If I were the Railways Minister, I'd have all of them arrested and sent off to work in road building projects in the Indo-Tibetan border - no kidding!
My stay in Kerala was a breeze. Fantastic people, very cooperative and helpful. Nowhere in the whole of India have I seen women confidently approach men and start a conversation. Perhaps there is more gender equality than the rest of India. I never spoke more than a few phrases in Malayalam, but I never feared going out all by myself. Even the slums are spotlessly tidy and clean. The only place that scores above Kerala in gender equality or women's empowerment is Meghalaya, but for traditional and historical reasons, and their tribal customs, which is often matriarchal.
Of all the news of hooliganism that we hear from the so called 'cow belt,' having lived in Patna for two years and travelled extensively by train, I cherish those wonderful memories. We used to go travelling on the metre-gauge trains north of the Ganga River. While people rushed in to grab seats, my dad would slide me in through the window (those had no bars) and I would hold one place while my dad would climb in peacefully. We were not always lucky to get a seat, but always got a place to sit because the villagers were kind enough to offer us a couple of seats. These kind gestures from the village folk of Bihar, unfortunately, hardly gets mentioned.
Anyway, I talked a lot about my experiences about public courtesy in general and I believe if there is a soul, anyone can be a good samaritan. In an ideal world, if all the citizens were enlightened, one would not need laws making it mandatory for vehicles to pull over and let ambulances or fire-trucks pass by. In reality, the common people, in the wake of 'progress' has lost common sense (in the somewhat twisted words of Lenin, if you don't mind me saying that). This reminds of the Anna thread, where only three people stood up and opined that the problem was with the electors as much as with the electees.
Peace!