Civic Sense in India and Cleanliness of Public Spaces

When people talk about cleanliness of public spaces in India, civic sense or the lack of it is often quoted as one of the prime reasons for the squalor that we see all around us. Is it true that we Indians lack civic sense? If so what are the possible reasons for it? Do they apply to us all or certain groups amongst us? These are questions we need to explore as we try to find solutions to the mess we find ourselves in.

Civic sense is defined variously as the sense of community, individuals feel towards the communities they live in or a complex phenomenon encompassing an individual's perception of, attitude and feelings towards his or her community. It is wrong to say that Indians lack civic sense. After all the Indian population carried out the most revolutionary and largest  manifestation of civic action in history during the mass movement for India's independence from colonial rule sixty-five years ago. The periodic Indian elections have shown that our people are quite capable of exercising their civic responsibilities when the need arises. Most recently we have seen it on the streets of New Delhi during the protests against the gang rape atrocity.

However, it is safe to say that we Indians seem to lack civic sense when it comes to cleanliness of our public spaces. If this is indeed true, why is it so? How are we different from other populations around the world that seem to have a better record when it comes to this crucial aspect of community? The answers are not simple, but need to be explored.

1. Selfishness and self-centredness
Not all Indians are self centred, but some certainly are. There is an ingrained tendency in us to put ourselves first over everyone else. There is nothing wrong in that, as it is after all a strategy for survival in a country with scarce resources. If we are to survive, we have to look after ourselves and ours first and not care about others. This  attitude is most easily externalized when it comes to the upkeep of public spaces. We teach our children to succeed by thinking about themselves and themselves alone. It works well to compete for plum educational opportunities and jobs but does instill a sense of disdain for the rest of the population. This naturally manifests as a profound disregard for the space that others inhabit. It is easy to ignore the public space. The tendency is to get ahead individually at any cost. The cost of course is to the rest of society. As the economy improves and the nation's wealth increases this attitude might change. The need for such extreme selfishness might dissipate.

2.The public space as alien space
Although Indians are a very patriotic people and most would stand up for their country when the time comes, there is a curious lack of concern when it comes to public spaces. There is a tendency to treat the public space as alien and forbidding. It may have to do with the fragmentation of Indian society along community, caste, religious and linguistic lines. People want their off spring to be "pure" and not get contaminated by other folk. The modern Indian citizen will certainly dispute this, but a close examination of Indian society suggests that this is indeed true. By keeping the public space a scary and unwelcoming place, we discouraged our children from interacting with others whom we distrusted, feared or looked down upon. So we made it an unsafe and unclean place. Our children especially the female kind were discouraged to linger outside their homes. If the space outside the home was unsafe and unclean the traditional Indian secretly liked it. However this is surely going to change and is in fact changing fast. As more and more people, especially women venture outside their traditional enclaves in pursuit of wider educational and employment opportunities the classrooms and workplaces of our country are becoming less forbidding places. They will eventually foster a sense of wider community among our people and hopefully more civic sense.

3. Colonial influence
India was under European colonial rule wholly or in parts for roughly three centuries or more. Even before that, the rulers of many parts of India were alien conquerors. This might have affected the Indian psyche vis a vis its civic sense in more than one way.
a) Denigration by the rulers
Conquerors generally control a subjugated population by several means. Exercising brute force has always been the primary method. However other subtle methods have certainly contributed. One such method is to break the self-esteem of the population by destroying its belief in its values and traditions. By systemically devaluing a society repeatedly they portray themselves as the superior society. Macaulay's famous but erroneous assertion that the whole literature of India would barely fill a shelf is an example of this. Perceived deficiencies in the subjugated nation were highlighted and publicized. One such  assertion was that the Indian was unclean. In time the Indian himself came to believe that he was unclean and unable to maintain the cleanliness of public spaces.This is particularly true of the generation that were born in the pre independence period. Everything that was clean and nice was from England and India was dirty. This is something the British instilled in the Indian mind and has persisted post independence.
b) Defiance to colonial rule
In conquered lands the public space belongs to the ruling power and not to the population as opposed to democracies or other forms of indigenous rule where there is a greater sense of ownership of the public space. In the years leading up to independence desecration of the public space may have been used as a tool to defy colonial British rule. However people like Mahatma Gandhi did bemoan the lack of civic sense in our people during the Indian Freedom Struggle.
That being said, we cannot blame our colonial past for every ill besetting our nation. It is time we moved on. It is time to show the world what we can be.

4. Poverty
Profound disparity does exist in our country when it comes to economic means. We do have a segment of the population that is extremely poor by any measure. It is difficult to preach cleanliness to people when they live in squalor because they cannot afford better. They live in the many slums that dot every city and town in our country.When their daily existence is a struggle and an eternal battle for survival, how could we expect them to be conscious of the cleanliness of their surroundings? We cannot wait for the trickle down from a burgeoning economy to take care of them. We need innovative and visionary programs to help them. Every society needs a social net. We have to build a robust one for the poor in India so that they do not languish in ever expanding and ever more congested slums.

5. Illiteracy and ignorance
Lack of proper education continues to haunt the development of India. Although India possesses some the most educated people and brightest minds in the world, it also has its areas of darkness. It has many people who are not aware of the benefits of a clean environment and do not make the connection between disease and squalor. As literacy spreads, and the population gets educated, hopefully this will resolve itself. More and more people will realize the benefits of clean environments and fewer and fewer will stick to the old ways. They will be the vanguard of a revolution that will sweep India quite literally and figuratively. The teachers of this country have an all important role to play in this regard.

6. Religion
We have great religions in India. All the major religions of the world have found a home in this vast, ancient and beautiful land. They all preach good things. They all hold cleanliness as a sacred virtue. Go visit the inside premises of a place of worship in India, be it a mandir, temple, mosque, dharga, gurdwara, church or other godly space and see how clean they are. Hinduism venerates Mother Earth and worships her as a goddess. Then how come this cleanliness does not spread outside the places of worship? Perhaps it has something to do with the asceticism that lingers in the Indian psyche. Indian spirituality has always venerated the renunciation of luxury and poor unkempt men who have given up their worldly life and embraced an existence of want, are venerated as sadhus. Is it possible that the Indian psyche considers the cleanliness of public spaces a luxury and therefore renounces it? Perhaps we feel guilty to want clean public spaces when we see so many of our countrymen languish in squalor due to dire poverty. However this has not stopped many from wanting the best for themselves and theirs in private, including spotlessly clean homes. We have to use the power that religion holds over our people to do good. One such good would be to emphasize the cleanliness preached by all religions and extend it into the public space. The religious leaders, priests and other religious minded people have a great responsibility in fostering civic sense in our people.

These may not be the correct reasons for the deficiencies in civic sense in India. There may be others we do not know about. Whatever the reasons might be, the time has come to ponder and find solutions. We have to galvanize our people to action. We have to foster a culture of civic pride. Let us unite and build an India that is clean and bright. Let us be a beacon to all mankind.