We get what we deserve

This is why we cant have nice things A book with that title was followed by a song by Taylor Swift and a few thousand memes featuring an angry cat It ought to be printed and framed at every street corner in India though because the message is so potentThat cat popped into my mind almost instantly when I read about vandalism on the BombayManmad Panchavati Express Apparently just four months after the train got new imported coaches that cost R38 crore the Central Railway had to pay R9 lakh to repair the damage caused by passengers Tables had been wrecked handles were broken windows smashed trash bins and mirrors stolen and even the rubber door wadding had been ripped outReading about that saddened me but didnt surprise me much It is the kind of thing we have all grown accustomed to the idea of living with people who have no respect for their surroundings and treat public property with barely disguised contempt Its why vehicles around us are full of drivers who think nothing of opening their doors on highways in order to spit why every government office has walls lined with paan stains and why we are possibly the only country on Earth forced to deploy images of gods and goddesses to dissuade our fellow citizens from defacing dirtying or destroying somethingActs of senseless vandalism also reveal an enormous amount of anger that is latent in so much of what we do Our forefathers may have advocated nonviolence but our idea of protest is never peaceful Our leaders believe that breaking windows and burning buses is the right way to draw attention to an issue which is also why people in fancy cars choose to attack windshields or assault people when another vehicle brushes against their ownThe anger we feel is real and often stems from reasons completely beyond our control We experience it minutes after we leave our clean and wellmaintained homes when we are confronted with the chaos dirt and poorly maintained infrastructure that dogs our every step in public We are inured to filth on the street from an early age and watch as our children get used to this tooAccording to Railway officials it has almost become a practice among travellers to ruin services and facilities A year ago headphones were stolen and infotainment displays damaged by passengers on the BombayGoa Tejas Superfast Express during its debut run Washroom fittings were stolen which shouldnt come as a surprise in a country struggling with poverty despite what the Prime Minister tells Indians abroad What could possibly explain the wanton destruction though How could so many of us confronted with something clean and meant for our own use find it perfectly okay to deface or damage those facilities without a thought for those travelling with us or after usThe upholstery of 1016 armrests was damaged on the Panchavati Express 536 armrests were wrecked 179 magazine holders were torn and 23 vestibule doors were damaged while 50 health faucets 43 washroom mugs 25 taps 37 flush valves 15 mirrors and 17 dustbins were stolen I couldnt fathom how this could take place without the collusion of everyone travelling on that trainQuestioning the government or the BMC is easy Criticism of their services is warranted because that is what they are mandated to offer us They are paid to do a task that they routinely perform in an incompetent haphazard unsatisfying manner We really ought to lay the blame on ourselves too unfortunately We allow services and facilities meant for all of us to be damaged before our eyes by those we refuse to question We allow people to spit on our streets with impunity dirty our surroundings without worrying about censure and get away with reckless acts of vandalism because none of us can be bothered to stop them for fear of repercussion Our textbooks go on and on about cleanliness and godliness but our acts in public belie those morals on a daily basisBlaming this on a lack of education and civic sense is easy but our inability to educate those around us is also telling The Bombay Metro has managed to stay clean and wellmaintained for years primarily because passengers have played the role of watchdogs and prevented acts of vandalism from taking place We really should extend that supervision to the rest of our country How else will we ever have nice thingsWhen he isnt ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates