It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime. What better place than here ? what better time than now ? - Zach de la Rocha
All my life I have stayed in India and never had an urge to go abroad. One reason is because India itself is so diverse and beautiful and there is so much to see and explore that not even one life is enough. Also, through all my biking trips and travels I have found endless peace and excitement that I never had to look anywhere else.
For the first time I moved out from India to Amsterdam, The Dutch capital. A country lying below sea level and mostly has flat terrain. It has a long history of social tolerance and generally regarded as a liberal country having legalized abortion,prostitution and euthanasia.
I remember some of my colleagues in Bosch who visited Europe and never stopped babbling their experiences. Nobody honks and people follow traffic rules and if you are a pedestrian or a cyclist you will actually be respected more on roads. No one would stare at you (specially if you are a girl) to an extent that you yourself are embarrassed and wonder if something is wrong with you. People are less interfering and are busy in their own lives. And above all, the public cleanliness which is apparently the most basic etiquette missing in our country.
So when I arrived here,I wasn't surprised and what I had heard was true. Certainly, there are right reasons which make it possible. Low population, people are educated even if not literate (there is a thin line between being literate and educated) and effective governance backed by mindful society. I still see people dumping and littering in public but the percentage is very less.
Is this possible in India ?
India is a different world. Huge population and extreme diversity in every element of human life. In-spite of being literate, majority is uneducated and unconscious. We readily blame the government for all bad things in the society, but is government solely responsible ? We, of course, play a major role.
People who praise other countries are sometime the same people breaking rules and are least sensitive to their surrounding when in India. How many times I have noticed my so called "well literate" friends littering even when there is a bin few inches away. Recently I was in Leh and it was saddening to see majority of people being so insensitive and disrespectful to environment. I wonder how can someone's conscious even allow to spoil such a serene nature.
How often do we see people urinate and spit in open. It's funny yet heartbreaking to see pictures of Gods on public walls as a resort to prevent this. We have reached an embarrassing level of shame yet accepting it as a norm.
In-spite of all the challenges, I believe the solution to many of these issues is not so complicated and not dependent on government. All we need to do is to promise ourselves to be a good citizen. We need to change for better, a little more sensitive, conscious and educated in our routine.
I wish a time comes when India extends its reputation beyond yoga, Ayurveda and its culture to a drastic transformation from chaos to order.
All my life I have stayed in India and never had an urge to go abroad. One reason is because India itself is so diverse and beautiful and there is so much to see and explore that not even one life is enough. Also, through all my biking trips and travels I have found endless peace and excitement that I never had to look anywhere else.
For the first time I moved out from India to Amsterdam, The Dutch capital. A country lying below sea level and mostly has flat terrain. It has a long history of social tolerance and generally regarded as a liberal country having legalized abortion,prostitution and euthanasia.
I remember some of my colleagues in Bosch who visited Europe and never stopped babbling their experiences. Nobody honks and people follow traffic rules and if you are a pedestrian or a cyclist you will actually be respected more on roads. No one would stare at you (specially if you are a girl) to an extent that you yourself are embarrassed and wonder if something is wrong with you. People are less interfering and are busy in their own lives. And above all, the public cleanliness which is apparently the most basic etiquette missing in our country.
So when I arrived here,I wasn't surprised and what I had heard was true. Certainly, there are right reasons which make it possible. Low population, people are educated even if not literate (there is a thin line between being literate and educated) and effective governance backed by mindful society. I still see people dumping and littering in public but the percentage is very less.
Is this possible in India ?
India is a different world. Huge population and extreme diversity in every element of human life. In-spite of being literate, majority is uneducated and unconscious. We readily blame the government for all bad things in the society, but is government solely responsible ? We, of course, play a major role.
People who praise other countries are sometime the same people breaking rules and are least sensitive to their surrounding when in India. How many times I have noticed my so called "well literate" friends littering even when there is a bin few inches away. Recently I was in Leh and it was saddening to see majority of people being so insensitive and disrespectful to environment. I wonder how can someone's conscious even allow to spoil such a serene nature.
How often do we see people urinate and spit in open. It's funny yet heartbreaking to see pictures of Gods on public walls as a resort to prevent this. We have reached an embarrassing level of shame yet accepting it as a norm.
In-spite of all the challenges, I believe the solution to many of these issues is not so complicated and not dependent on government. All we need to do is to promise ourselves to be a good citizen. We need to change for better, a little more sensitive, conscious and educated in our routine.
I wish a time comes when India extends its reputation beyond yoga, Ayurveda and its culture to a drastic transformation from chaos to order.
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