We love to fight for our cities. We show oneupmanship about a thing about the city. Mumbaiās never say die attitude and the āspiritā , Chennaiās music festival
Keralaās countryside , Bengaluruās weather. We also have mud slinging fests on the other cities and these fights have become an everyday affair. No one is gaining. We arent putting in efforts to change our cities , except a few noble souls. We donāt really are about our cities . If we did we would throw garbage all over the city.
We are a still in the nostalgia that our civilisation built stepwells, aligned with the stars, invented zero and all achievements great
Yet, place us in a lengthy queue ,something ancient and rebellious awakens. There are always folks cutting the queue.
It is not that we do not understand cleanliness or order. We adore it , alas only in theory. We admire spotless airport floors. We post photographs of European streets with captions about ācivic sense.ā We remove footwear before entering homes and temples with reverence.
Perhaps the problem is that our enforcement mechanisms are dull. A sign that says āDo Not Litterā has zero persuasive power A painted line on the floor assumes a level of obedience , does it?. If we have to improve civic behaviour, we must first understand ourselves. We are not frightened by rules. We are moved by spectacle, embarrassment, and competition.
Take littering. The average citizen does not fear a fine; he fears being noticed.
Maybe we need a āSanskaar Rating,ā a civic score attached not to income but to conduct. Return your tray at a food court? Five points. Pick up a stray plastic bottle? Twenty. Jump a queue? Minus fifteen. Those with high scores receive small, delicious privileges: a faster lane at government counters, a priority token at the temple, perhaps even a modest discount on income tax. We are a people who will stand in line for a crowded concert , a new hyped restaurant or for a new phone launch. Why not the same for dignity?
Some will argue that such measures trivialise a serious issue. On the contrary, they recognise a serious truth: culture changes not only through fear but through narrative. We behave impeccably in airports and temples because those spaces feel watched, valued, sacred. If we made our streets feel similarly visible we might discover that discipline is less about fines and more about audience. The Metro stations are a classic example . No one litters there . It is an equaliser of classes of society some say.
The real scandal is not that we litter or cut queues. It is that we know better. We lecture our children about responsibility while expertly shaving three minutes off a line. We sigh at overflowing drains while contributing a plastic cup to the mix. The contradiction is almost appalling .
So let us stop relying solely on stern signage and occasional fines. Maybe we could even try humour as policy. Or engineer embarrassment . Let us turn civic behaviour into a game we are slightly afraid to lose.
Maybe we should start teaching these things practically instead of schools . India has a great culture should be just with our homes and our Gods. Can we treat our cities and fellow living beings better. Instead of teaching moral science through a text book , can we show our children that we are indeed a culture who would like to preserve our cities and dignity by participating and involving them young .
We start saying itās the elected Govts role to keep cities clean, we after all elected them and pay taxes . Doesnāt mean we should litter at will . We can take some responsibility of being a human . The governments too are happy not doing their bit , strict vigilance of the contracts , provide dustbins at all public places etc . They just sit back and watch us fight our other cities
Whose city is it ??