Does public scolding and shaming really deter people from littering? Appealing to people’s morality will not yield any more results other than ego clashes. Littering is wrong and must be curtailed. But we cannot shame our way to cleanliness.
Unless you are living under a rock, by now you must be aware of what’s happening with the Virushka vs Arhaan Singh littering debate. Arhaan littered, Anushka scolded him, and Virat uploaded this on social media. Perhaps it was a petty publicity stunt or perhaps he wanted to pose as an example to Indians.
Arhaan, in return, poured his own point of view on Instagram and Twitterati spent the past two days debating on the issue, thus completing the cinematic spectacle.
The intention of Virushka is praise-worthy but their method is questionable. People were angrier at their lesson of cleanliness wrapped arrogantly, rather than Arhaan’s err of littering. It could have been done with a brush of kindness like Sachin did.
Littering is wrong and must be curtailed. But we cannot shame our way to cleanliness. Appealing to people’s morality will not yield any more results other than ego clashes. Virtue signalling, and shaming tends to make people defensive and feel humiliated, leaving them with a feeling of resentment instead of respect.
Secondly, what they did is even legally questionable. Celebrities, like normal people, do not have a right to insult and abuse another person at any time they please. Even if the other person is found to be littering.
You would expect the same couple who flew to Italy to have a quiet private marriage to respect the privacy of others. Is privacy only for celebrities?
The consequences of this incident were harmful to all parties involved. While Sharma and Kohli were trolled mercilessly on Twitter, Arhaan Singh had his own share of people threatening and abusing him.
The dream of a cleaner India was dusted under the carpet of controversy.
What if I told you that there was more wrong to Anushka’s scolding and Virat’s uploading it to social media?
The way to actually stop people from littering is by establishing clear rules and enforcing them. If you are fined when you litter, you will not dare to litter again, fearing the penalty. The imposition of a penalty provides an incentive for people to not litter. Bike riders might know the signals where the traffic police always have naka-bandi and tend to wear the helmets before they reach the spot to avoid a fine. Enforcing rules makes people follow them.
The person travelling in a luxury sedan who nonchalantly litters in India would dare not do such a thing because the rules are enforced there, and we feel uncomfortable littering in a place which is clean. The way to keep a place clean is by stopping the first person to litter there.
While Virat might be in a delusion that posting this video was an act of courage, we believe that the courageous thing would be to call out the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai, Ajoy Mehta, over the inefficient waste management and the flowing of waste in the Arabian Sea. Or questioning the Prime Minister, who found his place between Kohli and Sharma at their wedding reception, on what happened to the Swachh Bharat Cess that was collected?
That is courage. Picking on easy targets for publicity is not.
