Mid-Day Anniversary | The Gen Z trash police: Meet the Mumbaikar turning civic sense into viral content

The first time someone saw Aryan Kataria wearing a fluorescent green reflector vest on a Mumbai beach a notepad in hand they probably assumed he was a municipal official That illusion lasted till he stopped someone who had just littered And instead of issuing a fine Kataria asked them to do situps as punishmentIn another video he mockingly presents litterbugs with an oversized gift box in which he has wrapped the trash they have thrown just minutes ago and hands it back to them His signature blend of public embarrassment and humour has struck such a chord online that a new warning has entered Juhu Beachrsquos vocabulary ldquoKachra mat phenkna warna Aryan aajayegardquoKataria through his viral content has been making civic responsibility entertaining enough for people to pay attention Ironically it all began with a brand collaboration ldquoWhenever I have a wrapper I have a packet or juice packet or can I just keep it in my bag If you open my bag someday you will just see a lot of trash which has not been thrown outrdquo says Kataria So when a brand campaign around civic sense landed on his desk he wanted to avoid the predictable cleanliness drive videoldquoI thought in what creative way can I actually do a video where lsquobring back civic sensersquo comes in I just thought of a lot of ideas and then stumbled upon this one where if someone throws a piece of garbage I can just go boo them with 10 other peoplerdquo The resulting video crossed two million viewsMore importantly it changed how Kataria thought about the problem itself ldquoI thought this is a good idea to make people aware about not throwing garbage on the road because still when will you guys go and do cleanliness drives People are picking up stuff but is it really making any change People are still going to throw garbage We have to go to the root cause of the garbage and not let people throw itrdquoThis now shapes every video he has done on the issue since The formats though keep changing One day hersquos slowclapping people who litter Another day hersquos presenting them with a mock cheque and trophy Then comes the giftwrapped garbage followed by the nowfamous fine videos where the reflector vest instantly gives him an air of authority ldquoI realised whenever you wear the neon vest you become an authoritative personrdquo he says laughingBehind the comedy however lie hours of patient observation ldquoItrsquos a very tough video to make actually You have to figure out who is throwing garbage and when and where they throw it I have kind of mastered it right nowrdquoKataria has developed what he jokingly calls his own behavioural database ldquoIf a person is drinking chai 110 per cent that guy is going to throw a cup Thatrsquos my thesis till now The people who eat bhel they also throw it on the groundrdquoHe then discreetly records the moment someone litters before stepping in But not every encounter is pleasant One person turned aggressive Another had to be handled with the help of nearby police officers Yet Kataria believes humour succeeds where lectures around cleanliness and civic sense often fail ldquoHumour works because everyone loves to laughrdquo he says ldquoYou can entertain as well as educate That is where things workrdquoHersquos seen that firsthand One young man whose clip briefly appeared online pleaded with him to take it down ldquoHe messaged me lsquoPlease delete the videorsquo I said lsquoIrsquoll delete it But you have to come with me for the next videorsquordquo Kataria agreed to remove the clip but only after making him promise not to litter again The embarrassment he says leaves a stronger impression than a scolding ever could The impact has begun extending beyond his own videos Fitness creators followers and even strangers have started calling out littering after watching his contentldquoPeople have reposted this so much saying lsquoIrsquoll also do this If I see someone throwing garbage Irsquoll also do thisrsquordquo The biggest compliment though came unexpectedly while he was filming ldquoI heard someone saying lsquoAryan aa jayegarsquo I was wearing glasses and a cap so they couldnrsquot recognise me People are now scared of getting caught on video if they litterrdquoThat shift however small is precisely what keeps him going Kataria is also careful not to reduce the issue to individual behaviour alone While he wants people to stop littering he believes better infrastructure is equally important ldquoI feel a lot of people think there are a lot of dustbins which are accessible but which are notrdquo he says ldquoThere should be more dustbins accessiblerdquoIn a city that often complains about dirty streets Kataria has found a refreshing Mumbai solution if people wonrsquot listen to a lecture perhaps they will listen to a punchline