Let there be litter!

If there is one thing that Gurgaon has taught me, it has to be, never confront someone who is littering in public. Nothing good comes out of it. I've done years back in Mumbai and never once have i had a bad experience in letting people know that it's not OK to throw their mess around. Most of the time, the litter-ers would pick up their crap and dump in a garbage nearby. Sometimes, they wouldn't react, pretending as if you don't exist. You see, for us, Indians, the greater shame is in getting caught and not in committing the deplorable act of littering. The foundation of this behaviour lies in the fact that a lot of the city-dwellers don't love their city enough. You don't smear something you like, let alone love. Coming back to Gurgaon, people i've confronted so far have been horrendous in their reactions. Instead of doing the needful, they get into arguments with you. Statements like “tere baap ka road hai kya?” and worse. [I don't understand this infatuation with who one's father is.] This week, i saw a young guy with backpack walking about seven feet away from me. All of a sudden, he dropped his packet of chips—empty, of course. I promptly picked it up, paced up and handed it to him saying, “Bhaisaab, aapka girr gaya.” He took it, looking perplexed, and extended his hand towards me with the packet asking, “Aap ko chahiye?” only to throw it away—again.