Very well written editorial. Indians have literacy, education , money and many have good exposure to modern living standards, decency, decorum to be maintained in public places etc, but the way they behave and conduct themselves in public places leaves much to be desired. One can easily make out Indian crowd in any International Airports, Restauranrants, public places like zoo, museum or cricket or football grounds from their conduct, behaviour and discipline. Unfortunately there is a tendency to outsmart the others whether required or not when they are in a queue in a cenema hall, restaurantor railway counters etc.The tendency to vioalate the rules is a thrill and they never miss any opportunity. In roads, they are not seeing the traffic signals but they are seeing whether there is a policeman. If Police man is there, they by and large observe the traffic signals but the moment policeman is off, violations are very common and they become the rule rather than an exception. Even in malls, they have no patience to stand in the queue to pay their bills and one can see lot of quarrels on this issue. Those who care a little to follow the rules and try to behave decently turn out to be fools, suffer and get frustrated. The latest incident in the Zoo is really unfortunate and the behavious of the masses in Indian Zoo is very pathetic as animals are being tortured by throwing stones, bottles and whhat not. Recently, I happened to vist a zoo in Texas, USA, and it was a pleasure to watch the crowd and their behaviour than the animals and the birds in the zoo. One always feels sorry when one recalls the experiences in our Zoos in india. Time our curriculum in schools and colleges includes some special lessons on public behaviour,etiqutte and manners. Authorities manning the services also need a thorough exposure to maintain highest levels of safety and comfort standards for public.
Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan
(This comment is given in BS in response to the editorial appeared on 27/914).