We Indians are often mocked on social media as belonging to “the dirtiest country” or being “the dirtiest people.” The words sting because they are unfair ~ yet they are fueled by civic habits we have ignored for too long, both within the country and when we travel abroad. Before we examine how these habits affect our global image, we must confront the uncomfortable truth: our civic crisis begins at home. We do not transform into different people when we land in another country.

We simply carry with us the behaviours we have tolerated and normalized in our own surroundings. Walk through any major Indian city ~ Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru ~ and the evidence is unmistakable. Public spitting is so common that red paan stains have become a near-permanent feature of our urban landscape, splashed across walls, staircases, post offices, hospitals, and even government buildings. No other large society tolerates this level of disregard for public spaces.

Yet we treat it as ordinary, barely pausing to reflect on how such actions erode the dignity of our shared environment. Then there is public urination, which remains distressingly widespread despite years of government effort. Walk under any flyover or behind any bus stand, and the stench reaches you long before the sight does. This behaviour has been normalized to such an extent that many no longer perceive it as offensive or shameful. For women, however, this is not merely unpleasant ~ it is degrading. They are often forced to walk past men relieving themselves openly, without the ability to avert their eyes or change their route.

It is an everyday assault on modesty, privacy, and basic dignity. Compounding this humiliation is the chronic shortage of safe, clean public toilets for women, who frequently have no facilities available to them at all. In a country where women cannot even find a hygienic restroom outside their home, public urination becomes not only a civic failure but a glaring gender injustice. Our disregard for shared hygiene is equally evident in trains and airplanes.

Anyone who has travelled on long-distance Indian trains knows how quickly washrooms become unusable ~ not only because of heavy use, but because many passengers refuse to flush, leave faucets running, or treat the space as if no one else will ever need it. Even on airplanes, where facilities are regularly cleaned, the same habits often surface: wet floors, unflushed toilets, discarded tissues in corners. These spaces are used by hundreds, yet the prevailing mindset remains individualistic: I have used it, and now it is someone else’s problem. It is a small but revealing glimpse into a deeper cultural malaise – our failure to see cleanliness as a collective........

© The Statesman