Yesterday was my long-walk-day of the week! I walk for couple of miles every alternate week, usually the pace would be faster but I don't run. I usually take the really long-stretched-road, which connects Whitefield area with Varthur area. I wouldn't dare say, the traffic is lesser in this route, but it is bearable during off periods and holidays, hence the choice.
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It was 6:30 PM - trainers on, music on and there I go. I walked for 10 minutes and there was hardly any traffic, thanks to May Day. I saw Mainland China Restaurant to my right and there was nobody inside, I was wondering - did they even do a research before building this restaurant here, especially in this stretch of road with no big stops per se - anyways doesn't matter, as long I'm not a share holder, so I changed my concentration to my side of the road. I saw a bike parked near the shoulder of the long-stretched road, from a distance of 100 feet.
And the owner of the bike, walked across the shoulder and he was looking at a mini tree with hardly any leaves and some bush nearby. Yes, you guessed it right, he started urinating over the bush. By that time, I was 50 feet near him and there were couple of people walking nearby me.
I looked back - I saw a cute couple, walking hand in hand and a (50 to 55) year old lady(wearing a salwar suit and a comfy sneakers) and a really tall guy walking nearby.
Because there were people around(just in case, if I get into trouble), I shouted at the urinating guy - "Yo, what the heck?" - he turned around with a huge shock in his face, as expected the sneaker lady backed me up and started scolding him in Kannada in a baritone of a voice and the rest joined the Humiliation Mela - The bike guy got embarrassed so much and he hastily ran towards his bike and scooted away.
And all of us(Yes, strangers) started talking about how these guys are spoiling the beauty of Bangalore and parted ways in couple of minutes.
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Well, back to Public Urination - Mind You! This is a unique problem of India. The worst thing is, not just the uneducated, but also the educated mass does this disgusting ceremony on roads.
After returning home around 8:30 PM, completely tired - I wanted to freshen up, eat something and hit the sack. But instead, I told myself, I would browse for some time and then crash around 10.
When I was browsing on this topic, I happened to stumble upon a BBC post that states the following- "In the state of Rajasthan volunteer organizations and public authorities began shaming offenders by drumming and blowing whistles" - Is humiliation the only way to stop these guys? Having acknowledged the fact that humiliation does work, I should say - YES.
One other point to be noted is, only Men do this nonsense, not Women. India's rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said that the country needed toilets more than temples. People started pouncing on him. But isn't it true? If one is not hygienic, even God can't save him/her from the disease that he/she contracts by being filthy.
From BBC article:
This is an observation by an onlooker, walking in the streets, co-relating the view of Jairam: "I saw pictures of the gods on the wall in front of me. They had been placed outside a house so that people would not urinate on it. India may need more toilets than temples - but in this deeply religious country, it seems that divine intervention is the only thing that can stop men from urinating in public."
HaHa, how ironic and true!!
Oh, My India!!!!
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And the owner of the bike, walked across the shoulder and he was looking at a mini tree with hardly any leaves and some bush nearby. Yes, you guessed it right, he started urinating over the bush. By that time, I was 50 feet near him and there were couple of people walking nearby me.
I looked back - I saw a cute couple, walking hand in hand and a (50 to 55) year old lady(wearing a salwar suit and a comfy sneakers) and a really tall guy walking nearby.
Because there were people around(just in case, if I get into trouble), I shouted at the urinating guy - "Yo, what the heck?" - he turned around with a huge shock in his face, as expected the sneaker lady backed me up and started scolding him in Kannada in a baritone of a voice and the rest joined the Humiliation Mela - The bike guy got embarrassed so much and he hastily ran towards his bike and scooted away.
And all of us(Yes, strangers) started talking about how these guys are spoiling the beauty of Bangalore and parted ways in couple of minutes.
After returning home around 8:30 PM, completely tired - I wanted to freshen up, eat something and hit the sack. But instead, I told myself, I would browse for some time and then crash around 10.
When I was browsing on this topic, I happened to stumble upon a BBC post that states the following- "In the state of Rajasthan volunteer organizations and public authorities began shaming offenders by drumming and blowing whistles" - Is humiliation the only way to stop these guys? Having acknowledged the fact that humiliation does work, I should say - YES.
One other point to be noted is, only Men do this nonsense, not Women. India's rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said that the country needed toilets more than temples. People started pouncing on him. But isn't it true? If one is not hygienic, even God can't save him/her from the disease that he/she contracts by being filthy.
From BBC article:
This is an observation by an onlooker, walking in the streets, co-relating the view of Jairam: "I saw pictures of the gods on the wall in front of me. They had been placed outside a house so that people would not urinate on it. India may need more toilets than temples - but in this deeply religious country, it seems that divine intervention is the only thing that can stop men from urinating in public."
HaHa, how ironic and true!!
Oh, My India!!!!
Image Courtesy: Google
We don't have much of such issues over here but we have nasty people driving like crazy on the road. The other ugly side of Malaysians is parking anywhere they like although ample parking space is available.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I have also heard about the issue you have highlighted from my other half who studied for many years in India. I thought by now that would have changed but seems old habits die hard.
Oh Nava! We still have the same problem in India. Imagine, if this is the case in Bangalore, what would be the case in rural India!!
DeleteEducation should pep up the culture, but doesn't look like yet!
Yeah, we don't see the drunkards around like you have mentioned in Malaysia, bcoz we have close down time for liquor shops and pubs, I think it is around 11 PM.
So not much of a menace here.
Wow that's one bold thing to do,Hats off to u !...Honestly I hate this urinating and the spitting saliva on the road.But I'm really surprised that ppl backed u,once when my Dad & I were at Majestic bus stand my Dad tried to chastise a guy for spitting and it almost turned into a big fight.No one backed us and I had to drag my Dad off the scene,mainly because we didn't know Kannada :) I sometimes feel tat something's totally wrong with our whole moral setup ,ppl don't feel that they are doing anything wrong with not following the rules or throwing junk on the road,spitting,taking bribes....u know when I try to spell this out,ppl tell me that all of u Indians residing abroad feel this way and just shut me up :( what do u think would really change this ?? or will this ever change....guess i've bugged u with a big comment :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Reni.
DeleteBut after reading your comment and the ordeal you and your father went through, I seriously feel I'm luck for the backing from all 4 of them. If not, I would be in trouble for sure. The reason , why I started is only because, I believed the people near me would help. Hmm... thanx to your comment, I would be a little more careful next time. Also the problem with majestic kinda area is that, when compared to the IT areas of Bangalore, Majestic is far more rural and you can easily find many uneducated people, they kinda form a gang and pounce on us if given a chance, so is our railway station!!
You question is very much perfect - I think more than humiliation, Govt should educate people by telecasting advertisements in TV, FM all the time along with good-for-nothing ads for Lux soap, fairness cream and so on. At least then people would know they are doing something wrong. The urinating guy had no clue that he is doing something wrong - this is the state of certain percentage of Indian men, be it educated or uneducated.
One more thing, Cops should be empowered to take action against such incidents, you know they can ask them to pay a penalty by making a visit to Police Station, just like the parking tickets in the USA, but you know end of the day , tracking those guys is gonna be a tedious and a impossible task for cops, also I have seen cops themselves spitting on the roads.
So yes, only 2 options - either humiliate(only when you know somebody can back you up) and the govt's effort to telecast ads on this behalf.
Thanks for your heartfelt and lovely insight Reni, appreciate it.
You have raised a very valid point Pavithra and bravo to the initiative you took to stop that guy. It is really disgusting and disappointing that people urinate in the public places and that too without bothering about others. I agree that there are only a few private toilets, but sometimes they do this even if there is a toilet nearby... They are too lazy to use it, I guess. I don’t know why our government isn’t passing any strict laws on this issue. These people need to be discouraged and punished for this act in public places so that they will no longer be doing it anymore. I agree that humiliation is the best way to stop this. At least that will give them something to think about.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nilu!
DeleteThe point is, they don't even bother or realize that there are people moving around them - Holy cow, I dunno how they become immune to the environment and just be in their own world. Strict laws should help, but our very own cops(only some of them) spit in public, chew pan, so thrusting the responsibility on them would be a question mark and got a 50-50 chance.
Yep, humiliation really helps in some way, at least that guy would think one more time before repeating this again. Happy for that!
I think the major problem is lack of ownership and a feeling that the country is as much theirs(the people who dont hesitate to indulge in such things) as much it is anybody else's. Would you do that to your own house.? Moreover, a lot many out there just overlook these activities in public as if it is way of life. If there were more like you standing up to such behaviour I am sure there was a way out. Which again brings us back to the same place..ownership! Why do you think people in developed countries don't have to deal with this! I also agree that public urinals placed at frequent intervals are a necessity.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your view, Sonali. You are spot on, when you say - ownership is missing!
DeleteThe collective ownership would be a factor when people consider public places as their responsibility. But in India, people are least bothered and hence the problem. I cannot fathom the fact that how can an educated individual do stuffs like this? All ways a paradox to me. The developed countries have stricter rules and stricter punishments, hence I think it is not easy for the wrong doer to get away, like in our country, where you can bribe a police official and get away, Hmmm what else can we expect right!
It is such a disgusting act pf many bold people... I just hate this Pavithra and am so much surprised to see you come up with this topic that many don't care.. Kudos for that.. And yes Humiliation is the only way to drive off such insane behavior, becoz here in India, rules/regulations or authorities or power does not matter nor work!!! Even educated people do this disgusting thing.. Its better people change or-else India is still gonna be a 'developing country' not a developed country, after all even this stupid act matters our development a lot right?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your views, Divya!
DeleteYou are spot on when you say "even educated people do this disgusting act" - I dunno how people lose their common sense when it comes to public property - Will they ever do it in front of their house? Nah! Lethargic people!
Yes you are right - we can only be a developing nation all throughout, if we don't fix our attitude.
Thanks again Divya.