The Great Indian Litterbug

Well, this one is more inspired by a few clips I had seen on the tube and somehow that day since morning the litterbug was on my mind. I started from my house and as I entered the parking lot to take out my Rodeo, I saw the sweeper cleaning the premises and the parking lot. A car was coming out of the parking lot and saw the driver spitting right next to where the sweeper was cleaning. I guess that sparked it and I was sick early morning with the thought of this mentality. How could a sensible Indian litter right next to the person who is making sincere efforts to clean the area? This did not seem normal to me and I decided to take the onus to teach this gentleman a lesson he would remember all his life.

I pretended to wipe my Rodeo mirrors and kept fiddling with the buttons watching this car move slowly in the compound. The Litterman’s (the name I gave to this guy after the spitting episode) waited near the entrance of his building. His wife and his teenage daughter got in and the car moved away. I immediately started following it. It was a Sunday morning so I guess the Litterman family was out for a picnic. Since they had moved out so early so I presumed they were planning to hit the beach. That would mean a two to three hour drive and looking at his start of the day, the Litterman was surely going to litter more.

I kept a safe distance from him and followed his car. The litterbug had hit him and they stopped at a tea stall after a 45 minute drive for snacks and tea. They carried some in a polythene bag and sped off. I continued following them. Once on the western express highway, window was rolled down and out came a potato wafer pack, an empty polyethylene and an empty packaged water bottle, just when the signal had gone red. I quickly put my rodeo on the side stand and ran to pick up all the litter. I collected it just in time to get back on my Rodeo as the signal went green. I followed them to the next signal and pulled the Rodeo right next to the window. I tapped the window and he opened seeing a familiar face with a smile. I smiled back and put all the litter in which he had thrown on the road. I said a Namaste to his wife and waved to his daughter. They were showing a confused expression on their face not sure whether to respond to my greetings or to sympathize with their man who had wafer bits and some water droplets on his body. I politely told him what I had seen in the morning and told him calmly that I was following him right to the picnic spot where he was going and if he littered again I would do the same again to him. He appeared shocked by my reaction and did not know what to say. In a half apologetic, half avoiding confrontation tone, he murmured something and rolled the window up. I knew one thing..I had seen fear and humiliation in his eyes and I knew I had won this one. I followed him closely as he drove on for 2 more signals and I knew he was watching in his rear view mirror to check if I was behind him. I knew the fear I had instilled in him would last for a while and at least for the day he would not litter. I had managed to take the litterbug sting poison out of him, reformed him and though it was humor all along while doing so, I had done the responsibility of an Indian in True Indian style.

Uttpal K

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