Small things that matter!

By Somya Barpanda (St. Stephen's College)

If one were to describe the present mood of the Indian economy, ‘pessimism’...’gloom’...’frustration’ are some words that instantly strike the mind. These are the words that current newspaper articles are peppered with and that media-men today use with great gusto. Be it our financial markets or our corporate houses, all seem bitten by the bug of uncertainty. People of eminence have already written off the ‘India Growth Story’, credit rating agencies have downgraded it and the ‘once upon a time’ fairy tale-like GDP- growth figure of 9 % has slid to a despicable 5%. UPA II is getting brickbats (and rightly so) for having been unable to avert the dark clouds that are presently hovering over the domestic economy. Every day, on every news channel, panelists are seen shouting at the top of their voices, directing all their ire at the government and accusing it of ‘policy paralysis’.

While matters on economics and politics are covered with great fervour by the Indian media, there are issues that don’t get due coverage. These are issues that seem superficially small but affect the average Indian far more directly than a bearish economy or a high profile corruption case. What this article points toward is something simpler than present national political and economic problems, yet equally serious... which we see happening all around us but don’t view it as wrong since we’ve become so used to it... WHICH IS the cockeyed ways in which the common man in the country conducts himself in public spaces. Yes! The aam aadmi, who in popular perception (again perpetuated by the media), is always the ‘helpless victim’ of the misdeeds of the not so aam netas and babus, is also in fact a perpetrator; often many of his own actions are not in the nation’s best interest. The charge here, for a change, is on the humble junta which is comprised of YOU and ME. 

The Maoists are blamed for not letting development take off in the red-districts. They are fanatics and they destroy but what do WE do to keep the public property, we regularly use, in good shape? Whether buses or parks, immediate neighbourhoods or roads, we just can’t contain our urge to litter public spaces. Step out of your house, and it’s hard not to come across people spitting openly or men peeing indiscreetly. And these are not scenes from a backward village or town but scenes that mark our big cities including our celebrated metros where the majority of the population is fairly well to do and educated in nature. Our cities have levels of squalor that are unacceptable for a country even at India’s present   stage of development. Even countries (like Sri Lanka) which are poorer than India have cleaner cities.    

Municipalities are hounded for the common urban woe of ‘squalor’ but our right to put blame falls flat when we see a fellow urban-dweller fling chips’ packets/plastic pet bottles out of his swanky moving car. The same posh car may go on and hit a pedestrian but it won’t be much of a surprise to us if the rich spoilt brat driving it, easily gets rid of all charges on virtue of his money-muscle.

This money-power seems to have gotten to the heads of our opulent class. What is even more alarming is their sense of defiance and apathy. The rich feel they can do no wrong; their ever-burgeoning egos prevent them from owning up to the mistakes they commit. It is for these men and women that cities like Delhi witness horrifying road-rage incidents almost every day. Such disturbing instances make one think if we even deserve to be included in the league of future economic super powers of the world. 

And these are only a few of the many disheartening occurrences that mar the image of our country. What we don’t realise is that each time we casually throw away that ice cream wrapper or shower abuses on that stranger who leaves a dent on our car, we set a wrong precedent for the children of our society. All their school lessons on civic sense and good manners go waste as they see the opposite being true in practical life. They grow up to become the same irresponsible countrymen.             

Change, like charity, has to begin at home. For wholesome and meaningful development of the nation, we need to start by mending our own ways first because these small and seemingly insignificant habits of the public can go a long way in affecting a nation. One can’t stop admiring Singapore’s spick and span roads and public places. And only a few decades back, this very country was known for its filthy streets and polluted water bodies. Behind the stupendous economic success of Singapore and other East Asian Tigers lay the crucial role played by their respective citizens who were cooperative in their government’s developmental initiatives and due maintenance of the same.

Chinese inhabitants on the other hand have been socially pre-conditioned by the aggressive tactics of the authoritarian communist regime. It amazes one to learn that China had made it compulsory for all to observe ‘bus/metro-seat-giving day’, ‘queuing day’, ‘greeting day’ etc before Beijing Olympics (2008) to instil good manners in the masses so that foreigner-guests leave with a good impression of the country! Being a democracy, India can’t follow a similar mass-disciplining-drive. Instead, the educated class must lead by example and help overcome people’s current callous attitude towards public property and towards their public demeanour. The clichéd argument “We’re like that only” is a weak one for there is no glory in justifying our ‘chalta hai’ mentality. At least in this case, for our own sake, we must adopt Mamatadi’s ‘Cholbe na!’ attitude and get down to reforming our undesirable traits of recklessness, apathy, self-centredness etc.

We have become so used to seeing the media portray our politicians as near villains that we’ve forgotten to introspect and reflect back on our own immediate follies. Each one of us is as much a party to errors of omission and commission as our political class. We need to break the vicious cycle of passing the buck by realising that the buck eventually stops with us; for governments may come and go, but a nation’s destiny is ultimately shaped by its people. The Indian citizenry thus needs to wake up to its responsibilities and do its bit for the country so that the next time a 9%-like boom phase pays us a visit, we live up to the ‘super-growth economy’ tag and make the most out of it.