A recent incident shared by businessman Swapnil Srivastava has once again brought the issue of civic sense to the fore in India. The founder of a bamboo-based children’s clothing brand described what he witnessed during an IndiGo flight. And the story struck a chord online.
The social media post was about a “well-dressed” passenger sitting next to Srivastava. According to the businessman, the passenger seemed like one of those ‘educated, aware’ people.
He finished his in-flight snack and deliberately placed the empty cups and food box on the floor under the seat. That wasn’t an accident. The act occurred “not by accident, on purpose.”
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During routine cabin cleaning, the crew collected visible debris from passengers’ hands and tray tables. However, the litter placed on the floor went unnoticed due to limited visibility. Even after landing, the trash was still there.
What remained in Srivastava was not anger, but a deeper sense of disappointment. He pointed out that conversations about civic sense have been going on for years in India. Still, behavior change is slow, he says.
“Here’s what I’ve come to believe. It’s not an awareness problem. It’s not an education problem. It’s not an income problem either. It’s a ‘whose problem’ problem,” he wrote on X.
Many people, he says, treat public spaces like flights, roads and parks as someone else’s problem. The premise is: someone is getting paid to clean, so why bother?
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This thinking, he says, is where the real problem begins. Civic sense is not only about the actions of the individual, but also about what society accepts as normal.
“Every time someone litters and no one responds, the bar drops a little lower. Every time someone cleans up after themselves in a space that no one can see, the bar gets raised,” Srivastav wrote.
“We all silently set standards for each other. Choose the standard you want to live by,” he added.
Reaction on social networks
Social media users reacted to the post. Many of them agreed with Swapnil Srivastav.
“Unfortunately, an unpleasant and complete lack of civic sense is directly proportional to educational attainment!” wrote one of them.
“Neither clothes nor literacy nor wealth really make a man. Only education,” wrote another user.
Another user commented: “Most often it’s men who have a terrible upbringing. They weren’t taught good manners or respect for public space and other people’s privacy. While girls are taught to work at home, boys are pampered. And it’s mom’s fault. He then becomes entitled, loud and rude.”
However, some of them blamed Srivastava for not taking any action and instead wrote a post on social media.
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“Thank the guy. He gave you the contents to write something. When the indigo staff walked by you could have reminded the guy or the indigo staff of your next location or you could have picked it up and given it to the staff.. but you wanted the contents. Where’s the civic sense now???” came from another.
Another user wrote: “U wrote such a long post but couldn’t tell the flight attendant or the guy about the rubbish…unbelievable.”
“Nice. I’d clean up the mess in front of that guy myself and then post on X,” another user replied.
