oppn parties Indians Can Never Expect A Mark Rutte-Type Clean Up As They Have No Etiquette Themselves

News Snippets

  • For the first time ever, Mukesh Ambani buys a 29% stake in Gautam Adani's Mahan Energen, a subsidiary of Adani Power to source 500MW of electricity from the company's power plant in MP
  • Stocks continue to rise on Thursday - Sensex gains 639 points to 73635 and Nifty 203 points to 22326
  • Golf - Indian Open: 3 Indians at tied 14th as Joost Luiten takes the lead with a wonderful 7-under 65
  • IPL: RR beat DC by 12 runs as Riyan Parag (84 off just 45 balls) shines
  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
Indians Can Never Expect A Mark Rutte-Type Clean Up As They Have No Etiquette Themselves

By Anukriti Roy
First publised on 2018-06-07 13:03:05

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Anukriti is a student who dabbles in writing when she finds time.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte of Netherlands dropped his cup and spilled coffee at the spotlessly clean entrance of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport building in The Hague. He immediately took a mop from a cleaning lady and began to clean up. In Netherlands, this is no big deal. As per etiquette, people, famous or ordinary, VIPs or commoners, are expected to clean up their mess. A reporter from Dutch broadcaster NOS was at hand and he filmed what the PM did after the spill. Now, it is all over the social media and drawing praise from people in countries where no politician or celebrity worth his two-bit salt would ever do a thing like this.

In India, people are amazed how the Prime Minister could take the mop himself when he could have just ordered the cleaning lady to do the job for him. They are also amazed that a group of cleaning ladies could have the courage to stand by and watch and then applaud Rutte for a job well done. The security in our country would never allow the cleaning staff to come anywhere near the PM. Further, let alone the PM or other political leaders, whenever there is a political rally in India, the ground where it is held is in complete mess. Indians do not believe in cleaning up after themselves and that is why the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has not been a success despite repeated attempts.

Before pointing fingers at leaders and celebrities, Indians would do well to look within. The way we behave in public spaces, one is surprised that no one filed a petition against the Swachh Bharat campaign to claim that no one could ask us to clean up as littering was one of our fundamental rights. We do not have any manners or etiquette when it comes to keeping our surroundings clean. We believe that it is the job of the corporation, municipality or the panchayat to clean up our mess. We even find it tiresome to walk a few steps to the dustbin, throwing waste where we stand. People do not think twice before throwing things out of the window, or a running car or public transport. Unless this mentality is given up, India can never be clean. And Indians should never expect a politician or celebrity to do a Mark Rutte-type clean up. After all, what are safai karmacharis for?

See the Dutch PM video here