Why can’t we keep our towns and cities clean?

Photo by The Snapper: https://www.pexels.com/photo/trash-bins-with-garbages-13617376/

We Indians are some of the cleanest people in the world when it comes to our bodies and our homes. We will bathe and wash ourselves more than the people of any other nation and keep our homes spotlessly clean. But the moment we step out of our homes we will litter, spit, dirty and spoil everything in sight. I mean not all of us, but a great many of us.

I wish I could tell everyone to not throw crumpled pieces of paper, used food cartons, cold drink bottles, plastic bags and whatever else they drop nonchalantly on the road, pavement, lawn or any piece of public property they encounter and use a dust bin or designated place for dumping garbage instead. Why do so many people spit loudly or shockingly relieve themselves standing next to a wall? Why are there stray cattle on the roads in all our major cities and towns? I mean what sense does that make?

Which country in the world is so casual about this? India has so much going for it-the fifth largest economy in the world, and some of the finest minds in the world who lead the world in business, politics, technology, arts and so much more. We are a space power and the world is increasingly looking at our country for leadership knowing that we have it in us to do that.

Our country is transforming before our eyes- in terms of cutting-edge modern, infrastructure, the ever-growing number of cars on the road, the long list of young world-class entrepreneurs and the millions who travel abroad every year. Yet, our towns and cities stink. It hurts to see that. Garbage collection and disposal seems to be a huge mess and it doesn't behove a nation which saw the dawn of civilization at a time when many people in Europe lived in forests to make such a mess of something as basic as keeping a place clean.

People need to understand that unless they display basic civic sense like queuing up and waiting for one’s turn when using public transport, driving their cars in the right lane and within the designated speed limit, and ensuring that any public place like a park, concert venue, monument, tourist site or entertainment centre is kept clean and litter free is the hallmark of a decent and civilized people. Otherwise, no matter how much we protest and beat our chest, the people of the world will not show us the respect we deserve.

How would they if everything we showcase, no matter how beautiful or spectacular stinks to high heavens? No doubt things are a lot better than they used to be, but that is not saying much. We should aspire to reach a stage where every part of a town or city we visit in whichever part of the country is clean enough to not make a human being uncomfortable.  India is without a shadow of a doubt the most beautiful country in the world and we should do everything to ensure that we and the whole world experience it like that.