Blame It On the Mindset.

How many people have you heard saying-- "Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta." ("Nothing can be done to this country"). No matter how many countries you've visited-- The States, Canada, Europe, Australia. Once you're back to India, you are back to your old habits.

There, you won't dare to pee in the bush along the road. You will never throw a Diet Coke can out of a moving car onto the road. You will always wear the seat belt. You will cross the road only when the signal tells you to do so. You will follow all the rules and norms of the country, in spite of it not being your own country. But once you are back, you make a fussy face at the people and then become one of them yourself. Even if you try to maintain the discipline, you will find yourself in thick soup.

You stand at the crossing. You stare hard at the road to look for a zebra crossing, it is so faint. The sight, sound and air movement tell you that the cars are rushing past you at the speed of 90 km/h.
The pedestrian signal shows RED. You are the only one standing there, waiting for the cars to stop and your signal to turn GREEN. You see all the others around you, who's business was the same as you-- to cross the road, have dodged the speedy cars and reached the other side of the road, smirking at you. Once your signal is green, some cars still rush past you. If you suddenly come in their way, they'll honk right into your ears and praise your eyes -- "DIKHTA NAHI HAI KYA!" ("CAN'T YOU SEE!"). The next time you'd want to cross the road, you'll give up.

You will first curse your fellow citizens saying-- "If they don't give a damn, why should I?", and then dodge the cars yourself. There is provision for us to follow things. But who wants to? There are proper roads. Proper lanes marked. Proper signals. Proper dustbins provided at several places. But who wants to use them? You feel, "Everybody throws the trash on the roads, why should I be the only good citizen and hunt down a dustbin?" That's how nobody ends up improvising at it.

When you're caught by the traffic police, they ask for a fine. Don't you prefer getting rid of the entire thing with a Rs. 100 note instead of paying a thousand rupee fine? You overlook this deed of yours, and later say -- "Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta." ("Nothing can be done to this country.")

You are one of the evil-doers! Even the ones who are being loyal, feel cheated. I'm not saying that I follow everything. Though I will admit that I did try, but gave up very soon. It's all on the mindset of every individual of our country. Nothing will change unless we all think in the same lines and improvise towards a better system. I believe India has a lot of scope to improve. So should you.