Civic sense, or rather the lack of it, is a topic that has been widely discussed and argued in India.

Somehow, most Indians do not care much for civic sense. And this attitude is prevalent across all
sections of society. People today are so driven towards their personal goals that civic sense as an
ethic has become a low priority, almost a nuisance.
But this attitude could be harmful for India in the long run. Civic sense has dropped to an all-time low in
recent years, as is rather obvious from the current state of society. Let's see what people and specifically
parents can do to curb this downswing.

What is Civic Sense?

Civic sense is nothing but social ethics. It is consideration by the people for the unspoken norms of
society. A lot of people assume that civic sense is just about keeping the roads, streets and public
property clean. But civic sense is more than that; it has to do with law-abiding, respect for fellow men and
maintaining decorum in public places. A lot of foreign countries function in a smooth manner because of
the strong civic sense amongst its people.
With the exception of a couple of lessons in school, not a lot of attention is given to civic behaviour.
Schools and homes do not teach their children about the importance of civic sense and how it could make
a difference to the country as well as the quality of their lives. Let's see why civic sense is so important.

Why is Civic Sense important?

Separatism, vandalism, intolerance, racism, road rage etc. are all examples of lack of civic sense. People
are becoming less and less tolerant of each other, of other's cultures, backgrounds, and other similar
traits. India has really diverse people and the need of the hour is general civic sense. It is not uncommon
to read or hear about communal friction. Even living in the city has become difficult because people have
no consideration whatsoever for fellow city-dwellers.
When civic sense is absent in a society, it leads to a lot of problems. Disregard for the law is a primary
cause for lacking civic sense. A person who has high civic values does not resort to shortcuts and
unethical tactics to get his work done. And being unethical in daily activities does not benefit anyone, as
the behaviour only gets emulated by other members of society. Ultimately, the situation will reach a point
where hardly anything can be done to restore it.
For example, being inconsiderate towards fellow society members will only come right back at you. You
have to be social, mature and unbiased when it comes to situations in public. The current state of public
transport, for example, is disheartening. And we have no one to blame but ourselves for this condition.
There are spit marks, urine, vulgar graffiti, random garbage and overflowing sewers at every nook and
corner of India. NO city in this country has managed to fight the menace. It is easy to pin everything on
the government, but people must first question themselves and their own civic sense. Roads are not dirty
because nobody cleaned it, but because somebody dirtied it in the first place.
And such dirt and grime is not acceptable to anybody; it exists only because everybody does it. Even
swine flu, which is quickly spreading across the country, was caused by the absence of hygiene. It does
not help that people are irresponsible with the disposal of bio-waste. And people continue to indulge in
such behaviour in spite of knowing the harmful effects.
Using 'everybody does it' is an excuse and only an excuse. In India, even prominent personalities indulge
in proud displays of lack of civic sense. Take for example, ministers who delay planes with complete
disregard for other passengers or companies that freely pollute rivers and lakes. It is difficult for a country
to change its mindset when its leaders themselves are setting bad examples, round the clock, all the time.

How can you teach Your Child about Civic Sense?

When you teach your child about civic sense, you also teach him about civic responsibility. Children need
to be taught civic sense early because unlike a specific skill, civic sense is a school of thought in itself. It
is belief in hygiene, respect for other members of society, and humane behaviour.
So how do you go about teaching your child civic sense? Begin by teaching him to keep his immediate
surroundings clean and tidy. If he learns to appreciate cleanliness, he will be able to practice it outside of
home as well. Explain to him that just because other people dirty their surroundings does not mean he
should too.
Encourage him to mix with people from different backgrounds and not harbour prejudice against them.
India is a mix of a variety of people and patience and tolerance in your child will make him more accepted
and respected. You can also tell your child about the relevance of different festivals and explain to him
the spirit behind each. This way, he will not see the differences but the similarities between
his religion and another's.
With such small steps you can teach your child about civic sense and the importance of it in his life. And
by teaching your child about civic sense, you are not only making him a better human being but also
doing your bit for the future of the country.

Serious question: Why do we Indians lack basic civic sense? What

do you think are some of the realistic solutions to implement
civility?
Ok, well having grown up in India (Mumbai/Pune/Bangalore) and then
having lived in Europe for the last several years, I have a unique opinion on
this. I'm not going to go on the holier than thou chant, because frankly,
that'd be me bullshitting you. From reason to solution. Reasons can be
different, but if I could chain some that I know relating to the differences
between Indian and European cultures.
There's a lack of enforcement which in turn is fed by a lack of social pressure
which in turn is fed by a lack of DIY (Do It Yourself). As normal middle-class
Indians, growing up, we're not used to cleaning up after ourselves, not the
messed up floors, not the dirty dishes, not the outside streets. Since we
don't clean it up ourselves, and tend to expect someone else to do it
(whether the municipality for the streets and garbage, the domestic help for
the dishes, floors etc). And I'm no different, when I moved to Germany the
first time, I had never washed my own clothes so didn't know how to use the
waschmaschine, I had never washed my own dishes before or cleaned up
the messy kitchen after cooking. Shortly after I moved, I continued to do
this. I left the floor messy, I left the dishes soiled in the sink and I
continually reused my clothes (telling myself that nobody sweats or dirties
their clothes in September in Germany - onset of winter). At the time, I had

a German female housemate, who was thankfully understanding at first

(she'd spent a study-abroad semester in India before) who sort of helped me
through it, plus looking at the way people do things there, kinda put me
through the ropes.
Where I'm going with this - I know there's a train of though that says being
dirty is inculcated into our psyche, but its really not, we are capable of
cleaning up after ourselves, but thats the key, cleaning up after ourselves.
Because of so many years of conditioning, we don't do it because, well, we
aren't used to doing it.
And you know how Indians are, we are all into the one-upmanship thing, so
if some people start doing it and well sternly gazing at neighbors who don't,
the neighbors will automatically feel the social pressure and begin to do it
themselves. That I believe is the only way to inculcate the sense of hygiene
into the system. As much as we think that Abroad it's the enforcement that
brings about the cleanliness, I think instead it's got a lot more to do with
social pressures leading to something becoming a just well....accepted.

A new consciousness is dawning upon us as a nation. Incredible India campaign has just
released a television advertisement that shows Amir Khan urging Indians not to litter the public
places, not to spit on roads and not to pee in public places. This is a welcome, timely and much
needed initiative.
As we travel from Kashmir to Kanyakumari or Gandhinagar to Guwahati, we find the roadsides
or public places littered with garbage, people spitting and peeing in public places. This leaves us
with a feeling that the whole country has been turned into a garbage dump. How have we
allowed this state of affairs as a nation? It is truly a matter of concern. This has happened when
India has been rising at unprecedented economic growth rates during the past decade.
We Indians are personally very clean people. We brush our teeth and take a bath everyday and
wash our hands before eating. We keep our houses speck clean. But when it comes to public
places, as people we are simply unable to keep our streets, our railway stations, hospitals, or
places of worship clean. This is the state of affairs everywhere in India including hundreds and
thousands of villages, towns, mega-cities as well as in the streets of the national capital New
Delhi. We simply have very poor civic sense or social ethics.
What is Civic Sense? Civic Sense encompasses unspoken norms of society that help it run
smoothly without someone tripping on somebody elses toes. Civic Sense is all about having
consideration for a fellow human being. It means being polite, showing consideration to elderly,

women, children and disabled people, driving in ones lane without honking, throwing ones
garbage in dustbins, smoking only at designated places. The list can go on.
Why is Civic Sense needed? The WHO report shows that India leads the world in number of
deaths resulting from road traffic accidents. 126 thousand people lost their lives in road
accidents in India in 2009. According to the National Crimes Records Bureau 14 people die
every day in India in road accidents. This is many times more than the number of people who
die as a result of terrorist attacks or conflicts. Our careless and chaotic driving is taking its toll
everyday yet we continue to buy driving licenses, put ourselves, our family as well as our fellow
countrymen at grave risk.
Recently a road rage incident at the very posh market area in New Delhi took the life of an
innocent person who had a family to feed and spoilt the career and life of a promising pilot.
These are some of the examples of the huge cost we are paying for our poor civic sense or
rather lack of it.
While travelling abroad we have often observed that even some of the poorer countries
compared to us have cleaner streets, smoother and orderly traffic, wider footpaths with ramps
for pedestrians, parents with prams and people on wheel-chairs as well as a dedicated lane for
bicycle riders. Back home in India, try walking in Chanakyapuri, the heart of New Delhi where
most of the Embassies are located, youll find to your shock how many times you have to hop
up and down from the footpath to road and from road to footpath. If you happen to be a person
with disability with a wheel chair or a parent with a baby in a pram, then be ready for nightmare
while walking in any part of New Delhi.
When I brought this state of affairs of Delhi roads to the attention of Delhi Traffic Police on their
Facebook page, I got no response. When I wrote and spoke to the head of the New Delhi
Municipal Corporation bringing the issue to his attention, I was told that we Indians have terrible
civic sense and if the Corporation built footpaths friendly for people with wheelchairs then
people will drive their scooters and bikes on the footpath. I was further told that I was the first
person to put forth this kind of new sensitivity to their notice and they will take action though it
may take time. I offered myself to walk with them and show them all the footpaths and zebra
crossings in Chanakyapuri which needed to be redesigned to make them friendly for
pedestrians, parents and persons with disabilities.
A few days ago, along with a group of concerned citizens, we decided to start a nationwide
cleanliness campaign Come Clean India to express our angst against the state of affairs in our
country by physically cleaning parks, tourist spots, hospitals, railway and bus stations. Doing

this we were fully aware that a long term solution needs to be found and implemented. Buying
garbage is one such idea, so that people can rush to collect all garbage lying in the street and
sell them to the municipal corporation or a private company. Converting garbage into energy is
another idea that could possibly make buying garbage economically viable. We need more such
innovative ideas to make our country cleaner.
How do we instill civic sense in us? Many are of the view that civic sense should be taught in
schools and colleges along with other subjects such as Maths and English while others think
that the government should start a nationwide campaign to instill civic sense in people in
association with civil society groups. This brings us back to Incredible India campaign featuring
Amir Khan and his lessons in civic sense on Television. More celebrity messages of this sort are
needed. I would suggest that we involve the corporate sector along with government and civil
society groups in this noble endeavour.
Abhay K
Abhay K, a writer-poet-artist & diplomat, is author of six books. His most recent publications are
Candling the Light and Colours of Soul. His writings have been published by Times of India,
Diplomatic Sqaure, India Abroad, Literary St. Petersburg, Womens Petersburg and several
other magazines. His art works have been exhibited in several countries including Frnace and
Russia. You can reach him at www.abhayk.com.

Civic issues in India. I say these words aloud, and confused/confusing images form
in my mind. A lax attitude on part of the powers that be, a lack of awareness on part
of the common citizen; this raises more questions than it answers.
I know we all are bothered by civic problems we face. We speak out in frustration
against the plethora of issues that are ignored by the Government, but dont really do
anything about them ourselves. Those who want to take actions do they even know
how to go about it? An understanding, sympathetic ear to the common mans issues
thats hardly the impression the Government gives us.
Improper road maintenance, poor hygiene, inadequate medical facilities, transport
problems, education issues, safety concerns, water supply, encroachments, traffic

problems the list really is endless. You walk out after a hard day at work, and there
are a hundred possibilities of something or the other becoming a source of
exasperation for you, right from your mode of conveyance to the place you live in.
Improper/non-existent maintenance on part of the Government leads to society
ending up hapless. Public properties like zoos, national parks, historical monuments
become littering grounds in decrepit, shameful conditions. Dengue epidemics are
often a result of water-logging becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Lets not
even talk about the pathetic condition of roads, leading to countless accidents and
many unforeseen puncture situations.
As much as we might want to blame the Governments incompetent ways in
handling these issues and see them as a deterrent, Id dare say we dont seem to
make the surroundings we live in any good for ourselves. Even a cursory respect for
the name of the law seems to be a far shot when the onus is on us to clean the mess.
We are a people that learn by example, so Ill venture one:
Mumbai monsoons are notoriously famous for wreaking havoc with their
unannounced torrential thunder. A few months back, many of us were stuck in our
offices because of continuous showers, but a few bravehearts decided to make their
way to the local train station. An hour later, they were still stuck near the Lower
Parel station, which is hardly 10 minutes away. They were walking (or at least trying
to walk) in knee-deep water with tonnes of garbage for company. This particular part
of Mumbai has garbage littered around every corner of every locality. The mere
thought of making my way to the station induced cringe and horror. Drainage,
maintenance on part of the Government and civic sense when it comes to disposing
of garbage, on our part could probably have made things better.
Littering is my pet peeve, to the extent that I carry multiple wrappers in my bag
because of lack of dustbins over the city. But I know that Im unaware or maybe even

inconsiderate about hordes of other civic problems. Social etiquette, community

ethics we need to realise just how crucial these are in the making of a developed
nation. People urinating in public is a sorely unwelcome sight, but how many places
across India can boast of proper public toilets in place? This should be the
authorities responsibility. Learning to not spit paan on the streets, avoiding littering
these are some of the things that should be a citizens responsibility. Working in
tandem works wonders. We can easily fit in roles we devise for ourselves. Ultimately,
it all comes down to taking initiative.

Q Can we finish terrorism in world totally and is it only based on weapons and destruction or there is
something else also??