It started with a family in their car on a busy Delhi road, who are said to have left their empty plates on the tarmac after they were done. That was enough to rouse an old anger. ‘Is this your father’s road?’ was the provocation. Once the video of the scuffle made the rounds, so did the hard questions about where our civic sense has gone.
The internet has a soft spot for a good story. In this case, you had a pristine car and a trashed street – a study in contrasts. It didn’t take long for the outrage to build, and with it, demands for some real consequences, not just a talking-to.
The flashpoint: a taunt that hit a nerve
The man with the camera says he put his foot down when he saw the refuse come out of the car. One of the family members let fly with, ‘Is this your father’s road?’ He was having none of it. ‘Yes, it is my father’s road,’ he told him, making it plain that the street is for all of us.
Lakshay Mehta put up a post with the details of the encounter and the line that got under everyone’s skin. It was only yesterday, but the 26K-plus views show how quickly these little spats can spread.
What the video shows
You’re looking at a scene near a food stall in Delhi. There’s a car with a family in it and some used plates on the ground. The one filming says he was there to see them eat and then just chuck the mess out the window.
‘Pick up the garbage,’ he tells them, more than once. The driver won’t have it, as if to say it’s not on him, so the filmer makes sure to note he was a witness to it.
And then you have the part that stings. A man gets out of the car, but not to do any tidying. He uses his foot to nudge the plates under the vehicle. You can see one of them shoving them out of view, as though if you can’t see it, you don’t have to answer for it.
Why it set off a civic-sense debate
The guy with the camera is right to be disappointed in the state of things, and the comments section is full of like-minded people. Some want the authorities to step in and make an example of those who don’t think twice before littering. As one put it: ‘Money can’t buy you civic sense. Kudos to the guy for standing up to him.’
Then there are those who look at the bigger picture. Sure, you feed the small vendors by eating on the side of the road, but you end up with a pavement full of waste. A few think the eateries should have some skin in the game when it comes to the trash. One even noticed a blue sign obscured by posters and called it what it is: another form of being left to rot.
Public frustration, official expectations
Some have been at the trouble of tagging Delhi officials in the hopes of a quick response. To a lot of people, this isn’t an anomaly; it’s the usual: a nice car, a dirty sidewalk, and a wave of the hand at the rules.
This is what most of them are calling for:
– Make an example of those who litter in public
– A 1 lakh fine would be in order
– Eateries should be on the hook for the mess
– Put up with no more blocked signs
– Be the one to say something
What comes next
There is a feeling among many that people have no respect for the law or the idea of a penalty. They are for on-the-spot enforcement because being put in your place online doesn’t really rewire you.
It’s a telling sight: a family making sure their car is spotless while they put the filth right under it. In a way, it’s emblematic of the whole issue.
For the most part, the viewers are with the man who made a stand, though a couple of voices thought he could have been a bit less of a hard case. But the point stands: the street is for everyone, and so is the duty to keep it up. The internet isn’t in a forgiving mood today.
