I listened to the speech of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi on Gandhi jayanti, talking about his latest initiative "Swachh Bharat abhiyan". Being an obsessive, compulsive cleanliness junkie, I am absolutely thrilled to see someone of his stature finally talking up this serious matter and making an attempt to do something about it.
I am not affiliated with any political party whatsoever nor am I impressed by Bollywood jamboree joining the bandwagon and cashing in photo opportunities and suddenly becoming concerned about this issue. Complete disregard for cleanliness in India has always been a matter of grave concern.
Let's admit the blatant fact that we Indians lack basic civic /hygiene sense! Whether it is on roads, bus stops, ticket queues or any public place for that matter, people have absolutely no respect for public property. There is no point in getting infuriated or defensive about this. The general lack of cleanliness and hygiene hits the eye wherever one goes in India — hotels, hospitals, malls, households, work places, railway trains, air planes and yes, even religious places!
Spitting and littering appears to be so deeply ingrained in the behaviour of Indians that when one draws attention to it, it is often frowned upon. Filth no more affects us as we have accepted it as part of our everyday life!
I remember an incident that is reflective of typical Indian mindset when it comes to cleanliness. Two years back, I had a guest from U.S.A, an Indian visiting me for few days. While taking him out for shopping he opened a mint case, popped a few in his mouth, offered me some and casually threw wrapper along with the Coke can out of the car window! Much to my shock and horror, there was no iota of guilt or shame on his face when I protested his action as he callously replied "when you go to India, do as Indians do. India is BIG garbage anyway! How does it matter?" The person came from extremely educated and affluent class. When I asked him if he would behave the same way back in U.S.A, he ignored my question completely!
I am known for being an absolute compulsive cleanliness freak. And whenever I come across such uncivilized behaviour, my blood starts brewing! (Unfortunately, that happens quite frequently during the day.)
There have been many instances when I have seen rich, educated folks in their expensive, luxury cars spitting and littering the roads. Try stopping them and I bet you would be greeted with their middle finger salutations or shameless verbal abuse!
I am not affiliated with any political party whatsoever nor am I impressed by Bollywood jamboree joining the bandwagon and cashing in photo opportunities and suddenly becoming concerned about this issue. Complete disregard for cleanliness in India has always been a matter of grave concern.
Let's admit the blatant fact that we Indians lack basic civic /hygiene sense! Whether it is on roads, bus stops, ticket queues or any public place for that matter, people have absolutely no respect for public property. There is no point in getting infuriated or defensive about this. The general lack of cleanliness and hygiene hits the eye wherever one goes in India — hotels, hospitals, malls, households, work places, railway trains, air planes and yes, even religious places!
Spitting and littering appears to be so deeply ingrained in the behaviour of Indians that when one draws attention to it, it is often frowned upon. Filth no more affects us as we have accepted it as part of our everyday life!
I remember an incident that is reflective of typical Indian mindset when it comes to cleanliness. Two years back, I had a guest from U.S.A, an Indian visiting me for few days. While taking him out for shopping he opened a mint case, popped a few in his mouth, offered me some and casually threw wrapper along with the Coke can out of the car window! Much to my shock and horror, there was no iota of guilt or shame on his face when I protested his action as he callously replied "when you go to India, do as Indians do. India is BIG garbage anyway! How does it matter?" The person came from extremely educated and affluent class. When I asked him if he would behave the same way back in U.S.A, he ignored my question completely!
I am known for being an absolute compulsive cleanliness freak. And whenever I come across such uncivilized behaviour, my blood starts brewing! (Unfortunately, that happens quite frequently during the day.)
There have been many instances when I have seen rich, educated folks in their expensive, luxury cars spitting and littering the roads. Try stopping them and I bet you would be greeted with their middle finger salutations or shameless verbal abuse!
There is a lack of enforcement which in turn is fed by a lack of social pressure which
in turn is fed by a lack of attitude to do things on one's own. In my observation and experience, in India, children are rarely
taught to clean up after themselves: not the
messed up floors, not the dirty dishes, not the outside streets. Since we don't
clean it up ourselves, and tend to expect someone else to do it (whether the
municipality for the streets and garbage, the domestic help for the dishes,
floors etc), our mindset is, cleaning is someone else's job. That is definitely a huge contributor.
Lack of law enforcement is another contributor. If the police or the respective civic bodies decide to
strictly enforce the laws/ initiatives against littering, people will have to comply. We are stuck in a
chicken and egg type of spiral. There is no civic sense because there is no
enforcement and there is no enforcement because people in charge of it don't see value in
civic sense! Lets
face it. Indians are the most indisciplined and arrogant on roads, public places and don't even flinch while spitting, dumping or vandalizing public/common property, including historical monuments.
If
there is a ranking of countries in respect of observance of standards of sanitation
and hygiene, one can be sure that India would figure close to the bottom. Whenever there are problems with garbage, or spread of disease, we quickly blame some politician or civic body albeit, they are to be blamed but, why don't we as a society take some steps to make these civic bodies or politicians work?
It is time to own up to our civic responsibilities. It is time to own up to our country. Let us not see "Swachh Bharat abhiyaan" only in political light. We owe it to our Nation, methinks.
It is time to own up to our civic responsibilities. It is time to own up to our country. Let us not see "Swachh Bharat abhiyaan" only in political light. We owe it to our Nation, methinks.
