The young woman raised her hand to her mouth and proceeded to polish off the last piece of whatever roadside snack she was eating. From the look on her face, it was clear that she was enjoying the taste - she even licked her fingers before taking a paper napkin and wiping her lips and hand.
And then the napkin was tossed casually, indifferently, to the ground a few feet away from where she stood. It lay there amidst all the other napkins, plastic cups, newspaper scraps, food waste that must have been dropped by dozens of people like her, either standing there or simply walking by.
What was even more amusing was that barely a few feet away from the pile was a blue bucket that had presumably been placed there for the act of collecting waste. It lay there empty, while the pile of trash next to it continued to grow.
This scene is repeated tens of millions of times every single day throughout India - a country where, despite all the achievements made in the past few decades, such as bringing people out of poverty, providing education, healthcare and economic growth to millions, the basic idea that the individual should take responsibility for the cleanliness of their surroundings has somehow failed to take root.
This is even more shocking when one considers that the level of cleanliness inside one's own house is taken to such a high degree that taking one's shoes off when entering is ingrained in social norms, no matter one's religion, caste or economic standing.
Invariably the onus falls to the government, which continues to be seen as the caretaker of all public spaces, and one can read editorials in every leading newspaper castigating the local authorities for failure to maintain hygienic conditions in shopping areas, railway stations, residential neighborhoods - all the places where people congregate.
There are a few exceptions - the latest shopping malls and shining new airports have somehow managed to escape this fate - but then again, the space we are talking about here is a negligible fraction of the total public space in the country. The minute you step outside the confines of the shopping mall, you see the trash waiting to ambush you. The airport cleaning machine's jurisdiction ends
But the average person on the street thinks nothing of disposing of whatever they are carrying in any corner they can find. If the corner happens to contain existing trash, even better - the trash you contributed is now somehow anonymous, lost amongst all the other trash that people before you have left behind.
If one were not born and raised in the country, it would almost be shocking to see this kind of attitude - a true tragedy of the commons, something that is immediately visible. I have travelled to dozens of countries that were in the same income bracket as India and have yet to find one where people treat their surroundings with such indifference as to be almost cruel to it. Malaysia's streets are devoid of trash, as are Vietnam, Sri Lanka - even Cambodia which barely has any GDP to speak of manages to keep things under control.
A possible explanation for this "throw away" culture is that at a time when waste was entirely renewable, it did not matter where it was thrown - all waste would break down in the environment and be completely recycled. So throwing a banana peel into a bush was quite natural and actually eco-friendly. But as the nature of waste has changed, and has become increasingly non-renewable, this breakdown no longer occurs. A empty packet of chips will remain in its location for not just days or weeks, but years and decades. The same goes for a plastic cup, the likes of which are to be found in even the most remote corners.
The latest initiative by the government "Swach Bharat Abhiyaan" aims to make India a clean country - but to date, other than some nice photo ops for ministers and celebrities, there is very little sign of this happening. yes, there are some isolated hamlets and enclaves that claim to have attained this goal thanks to an enlightened citizenry - but to the shop owner who sweeps the trash out of his establishment, across a pedestrian right of way, and dumps it onto the road so it is now the government's responsibility, this change in mindset will be a long time coming!
And then the napkin was tossed casually, indifferently, to the ground a few feet away from where she stood. It lay there amidst all the other napkins, plastic cups, newspaper scraps, food waste that must have been dropped by dozens of people like her, either standing there or simply walking by.
What was even more amusing was that barely a few feet away from the pile was a blue bucket that had presumably been placed there for the act of collecting waste. It lay there empty, while the pile of trash next to it continued to grow.
This scene is repeated tens of millions of times every single day throughout India - a country where, despite all the achievements made in the past few decades, such as bringing people out of poverty, providing education, healthcare and economic growth to millions, the basic idea that the individual should take responsibility for the cleanliness of their surroundings has somehow failed to take root.
This is even more shocking when one considers that the level of cleanliness inside one's own house is taken to such a high degree that taking one's shoes off when entering is ingrained in social norms, no matter one's religion, caste or economic standing.
Invariably the onus falls to the government, which continues to be seen as the caretaker of all public spaces, and one can read editorials in every leading newspaper castigating the local authorities for failure to maintain hygienic conditions in shopping areas, railway stations, residential neighborhoods - all the places where people congregate.
There are a few exceptions - the latest shopping malls and shining new airports have somehow managed to escape this fate - but then again, the space we are talking about here is a negligible fraction of the total public space in the country. The minute you step outside the confines of the shopping mall, you see the trash waiting to ambush you. The airport cleaning machine's jurisdiction ends
But the average person on the street thinks nothing of disposing of whatever they are carrying in any corner they can find. If the corner happens to contain existing trash, even better - the trash you contributed is now somehow anonymous, lost amongst all the other trash that people before you have left behind.
If one were not born and raised in the country, it would almost be shocking to see this kind of attitude - a true tragedy of the commons, something that is immediately visible. I have travelled to dozens of countries that were in the same income bracket as India and have yet to find one where people treat their surroundings with such indifference as to be almost cruel to it. Malaysia's streets are devoid of trash, as are Vietnam, Sri Lanka - even Cambodia which barely has any GDP to speak of manages to keep things under control.
A possible explanation for this "throw away" culture is that at a time when waste was entirely renewable, it did not matter where it was thrown - all waste would break down in the environment and be completely recycled. So throwing a banana peel into a bush was quite natural and actually eco-friendly. But as the nature of waste has changed, and has become increasingly non-renewable, this breakdown no longer occurs. A empty packet of chips will remain in its location for not just days or weeks, but years and decades. The same goes for a plastic cup, the likes of which are to be found in even the most remote corners.
The latest initiative by the government "Swach Bharat Abhiyaan" aims to make India a clean country - but to date, other than some nice photo ops for ministers and celebrities, there is very little sign of this happening. yes, there are some isolated hamlets and enclaves that claim to have attained this goal thanks to an enlightened citizenry - but to the shop owner who sweeps the trash out of his establishment, across a pedestrian right of way, and dumps it onto the road so it is now the government's responsibility, this change in mindset will be a long time coming!
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