If you tell someone to stop spitting in public, the reactions you might end up getting makes you think you’re the crazy one!
Are you the president?
Where should I spit?
Is it your father’s property?
We see a lot of people spitting on bus stops, gardens, parks, staircases, walls of public buildings etc, Even government hospital stairs and walls are not spared, it’s like by each passing day they have become much bolder and don’t even hesitate to spit in the middle of the road or from the seats of the buses. I always wonder whether they behave similarly in their own homes..
Have we Indians completely lost our civic sense or is it that we just fail to follow good manners in public places?
The answer to this very question lies within every Indian because, we are either witnesses or at times party to what is happening around us.
For instance, when it comes to maintaining the cleanliness in public places or using of public properties we throw out every bit of decency within us aside just because it’s just not ours!
One way would be calling in the local sculptors to carve idols of Gods of every religion in India onto the pillars itself. No one will dare spit or ever think of doing the same. The whole place itself will attract people of every walk of life to visit at some point.
Secondly, it’ll help sustaining the art and life of a local craftsman, public nuisance will be set at bay. The government is already spending a lot of public money in providing better facilities and state of an art infrastructure to its citizens, as such instead of spending money on painting the bus stand every third year, the money can be utilized in sculpting the pillars once and for all to avoid painting every third year.
Another way to bring down these problem is by imposing hefty fines and punishment, direct action rather than warnings. Countries like USA, Singapore public spitting is a punishable offense and anyone caught doing the same has to serve jail term along with a fine, why this isn’t a rule in India?
Lastly public spitting will not stop if every one of us turns a blind eye towards what is happening around, someone somewhere has to whistle blow so that people are aware and do not repeat the same.
Tomorrow spitting might stop completely at bus stands but there are number of places still where spitting is done extensively every day and where sculpting is not an option but a change in one’s attitude and one’s mindset is…
