Yes, that's what came into my mind when I came across an utterly idiotic bunch of Indian tourists at the Eravikulam National park. We had to wait in a queue to buy the tickets for the short bus ride that was to take us to a particular point at the hill-top from where one had to take a 2 km trek further uphill to spot the rare and endemic Nilgiri Tahrs. It was a long serpentine queue, it being the holiday season. There was a family of about 10- 5 rotund adults and 4-5 kids in their teens-in front of us. For the entire one and plus hour of waiting time, they ate sundry items- from fresh corn off the cob, to chocolates, to biscuits, to buying and eating many other items from the mobile hawkers around.
Well, what really got my goat was the complete lack of civic sense and disregard for public property. In spite of perfectly operational dustbins placed at regular intervals, the family chose to fling the waste papers, empty cobs and water bottles all around the place. Even worse was the nonchalant manner in which the adults threw the garbage from where they stood to the corner of the road without a care. It made me want to just shake them up by their collars and fling them to the ground.
My blood boiled at the sight, especially when the same energy that went into littering in the direction opposite to the dustbins could have gone into putting the waste into a bin that was right under their noses. They made a complete mockery of the many bill-boards that carried clear messages against littering and warnings of a fine and imprisonment for those who defied the rule. I'd have laughed at the irony if I were not so distressed with the whole thing.
But, I'm equally disappointed in myself for not airing my voice directly to the uncouth people instead of just fuming from within and making loud remarks in a feeble attempt to embarrass and shame them into propriety. I thought of different ways of confronting them but couldn't bring myself to directly question them. The ever practical husband too cautioned me against getting into pointless debates and fight. In his opinion, such people cannot be brought to senses by mere remarks and arguments since they have the capability to turn the situation to a disadvantage for even the one who is right and just. So, I just kept fuming and went away from the scene to make life simpler for myself.Sigh! :-(
These people were not poor from the obvious display of chunky jewellery and expensive gadgets they had on themselves. They also didn't seem deprived of formal education. Now, who needs foreign enemies to butcher the country's pride and economy when we have such gems within? On a different note, just wondering, how did the authorities plan to implement the punishment of a fine/imprisonment when all we had was a poor woman attendant, who was obviously ill-paid too, to pick up after these rouges for their cold-blooded crime.
Is there any hope at all?
Well, what really got my goat was the complete lack of civic sense and disregard for public property. In spite of perfectly operational dustbins placed at regular intervals, the family chose to fling the waste papers, empty cobs and water bottles all around the place. Even worse was the nonchalant manner in which the adults threw the garbage from where they stood to the corner of the road without a care. It made me want to just shake them up by their collars and fling them to the ground.
My blood boiled at the sight, especially when the same energy that went into littering in the direction opposite to the dustbins could have gone into putting the waste into a bin that was right under their noses. They made a complete mockery of the many bill-boards that carried clear messages against littering and warnings of a fine and imprisonment for those who defied the rule. I'd have laughed at the irony if I were not so distressed with the whole thing.
But, I'm equally disappointed in myself for not airing my voice directly to the uncouth people instead of just fuming from within and making loud remarks in a feeble attempt to embarrass and shame them into propriety. I thought of different ways of confronting them but couldn't bring myself to directly question them. The ever practical husband too cautioned me against getting into pointless debates and fight. In his opinion, such people cannot be brought to senses by mere remarks and arguments since they have the capability to turn the situation to a disadvantage for even the one who is right and just. So, I just kept fuming and went away from the scene to make life simpler for myself.Sigh! :-(
These people were not poor from the obvious display of chunky jewellery and expensive gadgets they had on themselves. They also didn't seem deprived of formal education. Now, who needs foreign enemies to butcher the country's pride and economy when we have such gems within? On a different note, just wondering, how did the authorities plan to implement the punishment of a fine/imprisonment when all we had was a poor woman attendant, who was obviously ill-paid too, to pick up after these rouges for their cold-blooded crime.
Is there any hope at all?
