Civic Sense

A Story by Fidha

civic sense in India

Civic sense- is a word that is known for its mere absence in an average Indian’s lexicon!

Shocking?? Well I had heard that before too, and can now assure you that it’s TRUE!

What can be more frustrating than having to wait for the doc in a hospital for over two hours!! My check-up was over by 10:00 p.m. Sigh! Dad was soon engrossed in driving the bike at such odd-hours, while I began to look around me more closely. Never did I know, many bizarre sights were in stock for me.

The moonlight enveloped the city in a blissful light. What’s bizarre with that u ask?? Well, blissful apart, it revealed a yet another side of the city…a dark one, to be precise! And all of a sudden. I started to regard the moonlight superior to its counterpart- the sunlight! Well, having spent a decade and a half in Chennai, I have apparently gone around it numerous times! And to think, sunlight didn’t delineate all these - filthy roadsides, dirty puddles of water, crooked streets, vehicles sans headlights, broken street lights, walls painted with spat betel leaves (yuck!), littered roads and what not?? Not to mention, some obstinate people violating traffic rules with an “I- don’t- care” attitude!

A chain of dark events haunted my mind that night. And I ended up not getting a wink of sleep! No matter how hard I tried, insuperable it was the mixed feelings of disgust and guilt that coiled around me. “When will we change?” was one of the many questions that my mind kept asking. After a fierce battle with unanswered questions, I somehow spent the night.

Weeks later, we were caught up in the traffic and having nothing to do,. I just looked out of the car and was like “Hey, our city isn’t that bad after all!!” “And even if it’s, there are lots of people to take care of it, I need not strain my helpless nerves”. “Well, what can I do if others are wrong?” I somehow convinced my mind using helplessness as an alibi!

And there I was…disappearing into the careless lot that studs our country!!

Déjà vu, anyone????????????