Florine Roach
Daijiworld Media Network

Mangalore, May 19: Do Indians lack civic sense or fail to follow good manners in public places so as to keep civility in order?  The answer to this question is known to all Indians because we are a witness and also a party to what is happening around us.  When it comes to maintaining cleanliness in public places or using of public properties we throw all manners of decency aside because it is not our own personal property.
We see people spitting on roads, public places, bus stops, gardens and parks without our conscience pricking because of the typical Indian attitude. 

We fall short of following self discipline unless it is thrashed upon us.  Have a look at some of the staircases, walls and windows of public buildings, commercial complexes, banks, government offices, theatres, roads, street corners and other public places which are painted red by tobacco chewers by spitting on them.  Wash basins and toilets in some public places also bear testimony to the efforts of tobacco chewers to leave their red residue behind.   Even hospital stairs and walls are also not spared by these tobacco chewers. Rather with each passing day they have become much bolder as they don’t even hesitate to spit on the middle of the road or from the seats of the buses they travel regardless of people walking or travelling on roads.  One wonders whether they behave similarly in their own homes.  

Not long ago this practice painting walls red was prevalent mainly in certain parts of North Karnataka and one could hardly find walls of any buildings there without the stains of betel juice. The very sight of these red-stained walls makes an awful scene.    Unfortunately in the last few years, with the consumption of gutka, pan masala, Zarda, Khaini becoming widespread the menace has become omnipresent even in undivided Dakshina Kannada, which is supposed to be the land of intellectuals, well-educated and learned people.  The easy availability of chewing tobacco in plastic sachets of 5 grams or even less has also contributed to this public nuisance.  While it is easy to blame it on the influx of workers from the north Karnataka for construction work  here who are said to be tobacco chewers,  we cannot escape from our own accountability and contribution of our own people to the menace. 

Tobacco chewing results in increased salivation which forces the user to spit often.  We come across many men young and old alike with swollen lower lip as a result of keeping a ball of   tobacco forcing them to spit.  This urge to spit results in them throwing it all over walls, stairs, bus stations, corners of rooms etc., which speaks of their lack of civic sense and social responsibility.   Apart from being a public nuisance it is also quite health hazardous.   Sadly an increasing number of people are getting addicted to this habit as the tobacco sachets which are priced as low as Rs. 2/- per sachet are easily affordable.  

Very often it is easy to convince the rural and less educated people about the need to desist from such a wacky habit but the so called educated, civilized urban people are quite adamantine and apathetic to such issues of public hygiene and civic sense.   At the same time we should not forget that these people are well mannered when they go abroad to well-maintained and clean cities where littering in public warrants hefty fines and punishment.  

In our neighboring state Goa the sale of paan, gutka and chewable tobacco is least because chewing tobacco is sure to attract the ire of locals who even may not hesitate to whack those chewing in public places especially in local buses.

It means that this menace can be stopped to a considerable extent when the public starts opposing it.  After all, no one wants to get a taste of public wrath or get chastised in public. It is our city, our infrastructure which is misused and impaired and it is the duty of everyone to safeguard our public property and keep it clean rather than waiting for the government to come with a ban on it.