Change in the way we think..

I went on a trip to London recently and as crazy I am about this country, India, I had to admit the logic behind people not returning back to their homeland after having worked or having had extended stays in countries such as UK, USA and other such places. So what makes it nice to be there, that is not here?? Well, the first thing that hits you, whether you've been there for 10 days, 1 month or however long, is how clean those countries are!! When we see garbage strewn all around us and we seem oblivious to it!!??!! How is that possible? By closing our nostrils for the moment we pass a garbage bin or by closing our eyes or most importantly, by closing our minds to it we wish to eliminate the truth of the constant stench surrounding us. No amount of room fresheners or agarbathis can freshen our polluted minds. We need to see all around us and feel sorry for the condition we live in. But instead, we are proud of it and showcase our slums to the world and end up making a movie out of it too. The second factor that appeals to the visitor is the fact that we as pedestrians are given utmost importance. Well, a huge truck waits for you to cross at the zebra crossing and that too with a smile on the face of the driver. You feel importnt crossing the road and makes you feel like how David would have felt when he defeated Goliath!! Whereas here, even when we have the right to cross, a motorcyclist would break the signal, hit us, cuss at us and then move on like we have stolen him of his few precious moments on earth!! But we move on, like thats how its meant to be. Don't get me wrong here and think that I have lost my fanaticism over India, thanks to a ten day honeymoon, no, thats not it. My question is, why cant we be like them and be proud of it. Its not sufficient if the world's financial markets envy us, we need to be proud of what and who we are. We can also have a clean country with law abiding citizens. How? By making a small change in the minds of us, educated people. If we try to do the simple things right and teach just one more person, we can make a difference. It is not impossible, its achievable and also within our lifetime. Those is in a position of power need to start working on making laws that people can understand and wont go out of the way to find loopholes. For instance, if crossing the STOP line is a fault, then start fining even the government buses, this will help the common man understand his liability too. As far as zebra crossings go, remember that our roads are filthy and black an white lines are impossible to see. Lets not ape the colour of the zebra, call it anything else and make it bright yellow or green, which everyone can see and would probably be scared to cross!! Lets start respecting ourselves as living beings first and try to improve our quality of life then I am sure our neighbours too would want the same for us and from there on there is only one way for us...and my guess is as good as yours.. :)