warm climates have larger mass mobility than colder climates.Crowd means hygiene problems irrespective of ethnicity if not controlled efficiently by efficient govt.India for record always had inefficient governance be it in the pre indepedent era after the advent of foreigners or post independent era.

In the a fore mentioned non Indian countries industrialization,urbanization started much early and in fact some of theses countries is where Industrialization took birth.Urbanization,industrialization again means mass mobility.These countries had the advantage of smaller population on one hand and on the other hand got started on the public facilities required for mobil crowds(driven by industrialization). When you add to this the awareness campaigns like slapping people with fine for public nuisance and other controlling techniques it will naturally have disciplining impact on unruly(from our POV) minds. How else can you explain the alarming contrast between the presence of hygienic behavior of citizens in public places and the absence of the same in personal domain in many of these wealthy countries.
To sum it up it’s not just citizens it is the urbanization,industrialization,inefficie nt govt which makes public places look pathetic when it comes to hygiene in India.
Indians in private domain are the most clean people in the world thanks to their culture ,tradition.

your aim is to find out how other people live, what they can teach you, how they deal with reality and with the extraordinary.

I think following this can make your stay more enjoyable and fruitful. Just a thought.

but what did you sought to achieve by that photo. I don’t think you anticipated a huge campaign to stop such things. . I would be surprised if you thought that.

We know such things exist but honestly we are powerless.
( Yes you can leave out last one or two years when middle class has suddenly began rising and asserting). If you point out such things what we will do, bang local municipality. We don’t have such direct contact with our govt. In fact the entire infrastructure is quite weak.

I am not sure how much taxes are shared with the MCD that enables them to maintain the local city hygiene. And whether they get regular money or not. There is also corruption and some form of lawlessness. New dustbins are stolen (you can smile), cleaners are shown on paper however their salaries are appropriated by the officials. Thank God the last one was revealed and action taken. As far as govt responsibility is concerned, there are serious lapses. Changing govt is one aspect. It wouldn’t be enough, there has to be a campaign on this among people too. Then things will get better.
But things are changing. When Metro opened the people did dirty it in the first days but then there was outrage and I have seen people keep stations clean. There is not much litter.

I don’t agree with raghavan that toilet facilities are enough in the cities. It doesn’t make any sense as why Indians or any (human) would want to do it in open. The facilities need to be planned according to density of population and also at proper distances. I don’ think there are enough public toilets other than one near metro facilities.

Lastly sir, I will love to recapitulate western history to you. I think your first cities were extremely dirty and one of arguments in first wave of feminism was this. Political rights should be given to woman because they can handle things related to cleanliness better. And slums were also known. I just have read Charles Dickens to know them, or that when Gandhi visited London to meet the king he lived in east London, a slum area and poor section of London. The 1950′s west evolved the concept of welfare state and started replacing slums with cheap housing schemes or something like that. Things became better. I am sure India will come out of it too. Because change is constant.

To make your travel simple I will love to give Paulo Coelho’s advice ( especially no 5) to you. Thanks.
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2012/07/03/tr avelling-differently/

“Robert”,

You know I that I just trying to provoke you. As you Yanks says “I am just yanking (no relation) your chain”. Why? Because I believe that is the most interesting part of all discourse.

But you have not responsed to my main point: Have you met the Vania?

Please comment for all 1.2 Billion of your readers & their family and friends.

Thank you.

Excellent article on the whole.

Statistically speaking, it is true that Indians are unhygenic. In this there can be no doubt. My place here in the US is such a mess that it shocks most people who have not been to India. Instinctively and at the cellular level, I just seem to love a mess, so it is possible that this is genetic as well as cultural.

Moving on, I should mention that the term “Third Rail” is not always comprehensible to global readers who:
(a) Do not have an understanding of Social Security in the United States.
(b) Are used to electric trains with overhead powerlines.

Given that the majority of your readers seem to be Indians, you might as well be using incomprehensible baseball metaphors.

The Vania have an excellent saying: “When you go to work, leave yourself at home”.

Given your experience in India, I am sure you have met the Vania, so you know exactly what I mean.