Why is India so filthy? | The Ugly Indian | TEDxBangalore

Summary

The speaker, Anamik Nagrik, addresses India's public cleanliness issue, questioning why a nation capable of Mars missions struggles with street sanitation. Through social experiments and initiatives like 'The Ugly Indian Movement', the talk illustrates how community engagement and practical solutions, rather than reliance on government, can transform public spaces. The emphasis is on individual action, with anonymity fostering inclusivity and results-oriented efforts, demonstrating that collective citizen participation can significantly improve civic standards.

Takeaways

• 😷 The speaker, Anamik Nagrik, uses a mask to remain anonymous and discusses the issue of public filth in India, questioning why a country capable of advanced feats like Mars missions can't address cleanliness on its streets.
• 🌍 Anamik highlights the contrast between India's cleanliness and other countries, including neighboring Asian nations and even Africa, where cleanliness is taken more seriously.
• 🏠 The paradox is pointed out that Indians keep their homes clean but tolerate filth outside, even in the presence of international brands like McDonald's that maintain cleanliness around their outlets.
• 🤔 Anamik ponders the root cause of India's public filth, suggesting it's not due to a lack of resources or systems, but rather a societal attitude of 'It's not my problem'.
• 🌅 The concept of 'dream land' is introduced, where even with no corruption and increased budgets, cleanliness is not achieved, indicating the issue is deeper than financial constraints.
• 👀 Anamik shows a picture of a poorly maintained area in Singapore's Little India, suggesting that Indians may lower civic standards even in clean cities, emphasizing the need for self-reflection.
• 🚦 The speaker criticizes the Indian tendency to disregard rules, like traffic lights, and the need for police enforcement, which reflects a larger issue of non-compliance in public behavior.
• 🔄 Anamik describes social experiments in Bangalore that aimed to change public behavior without people realizing it, using concepts like the Broken Window Theory and the Tragedy of the Commons.
• 🎨 The script mentions practical solutions implemented in Bangalore, such as painting walls to deter spitting, which shows that small, thoughtful changes can have a significant impact on public behavior.
• 🗑️ The 'Tere Bin' project is highlighted as an example of innovative solutions to common problems like littering, demonstrating the effectiveness of design in improving public spaces.
• 👥 Anamik emphasizes the power of community involvement in solving civic problems, showing that when people come together, they can overcome the 'tragedy of the commons' and achieve positive change.
• 📢 The script concludes with a call to action, urging individuals to stop being 'Ugly Indians' and to take responsibility for their streets and public spaces, advocating for hands-on involvement rather than complaints or waiting for others to act.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed by the speaker in the script?

The main issue discussed by the speaker is the problem of public filth and lack of cleanliness in India, particularly in urban areas.

Why does the speaker believe that India's filth problem is not due to a lack of resources or systems?

The speaker believes that the filth problem is not due to a lack of resources or systems because India has the capability to send rockets to Mars but fails to maintain cleanliness in its cities, indicating that the issue is more about the attitude and behavior of its people.

What is the 'dream land' scenario presented by the speaker, and what does it imply?

The 'dream land' scenario is a hypothetical situation where there is no corruption, the government is strong, and the budget for cleanliness is increased tenfold. It implies that even with these ideal conditions, the speaker believes that Indian cities would not necessarily become clean, suggesting that the problem lies deeper within the society's mindset.

What is the Broken Window Theory mentioned in the script, and how does it relate to the cleanliness issue in India?

The Broken Window Theory suggests that if a place is already ugly or neglected, it will tend to become even more so. In the context of India's cleanliness issue, it means that if public spaces are already dirty, people are less likely to respect them and maintain cleanliness.

What is the 'Tragedy of the Commons' theory, and how does it apply to the situation in India?

The 'Tragedy of the Commons' theory refers to a situation where individuals, acting independently according to their own self-interest, deplete a shared resource. In India, this theory applies to the lack of care for public spaces, as people tend to maintain their private spaces but neglect the common areas.

What is the significance of the 'Ugly Indian' term used in the script?

The term 'Ugly Indian' is used to describe the collective behavior of Indian citizens who contribute to public filth and neglect. It is a self-reflective term meant to provoke thought and action towards improving public cleanliness.

What is the solution proposed by the speaker to address the cleanliness problem in India?

The speaker proposes a solution that involves changing individual behaviors and attitudes towards public cleanliness. This includes conducting social experiments, applying nudges to improve behavior, and taking direct action to fix local problems without waiting for government intervention.

What is the 'Tere Bin' initiative mentioned in the script, and how does it address the litter bin problem?

The 'Tere Bin' initiative is a project that designed a new type of dustbin that is not stealable, looks aesthetically pleasing, and encourages people to use it. It is made of materials that are not desirable for theft and is designed to withstand weather and improve the aesthetics of public spaces.

How does the speaker describe the impact of community involvement in fixing public spaces?

The speaker highlights that when the community comes together to address a common problem, it can lead to a 'victory of the commons,' where the public space is improved and maintained. This collective effort can transform neglected areas into clean and respected spaces.

What role does the speaker suggest for social media, particularly Facebook, in promoting change?

The speaker suggests that social media, especially Facebook, plays a crucial role in promoting change by sharing before-and-after photos of cleaned areas. This helps create a belief that improvements are possible and motivates others to take action in their own communities.

What is the message conveyed by the speaker regarding anonymity in the 'Ugly Indian' movement?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of anonymity in the 'Ugly Indian' movement to focus solely on the results of the work done rather than on the individuals involved. This approach allows people to join the movement without fear of judgment based on personal characteristics and encourages a collective effort towards a common goal.

Outlines

00:00

😷 The Ugly Truth of India's Public Filth

The speaker, Anamik Nagrik, addresses the issue of public filth in India, comparing it to the cleanliness of other countries. Despite India's capabilities in space exploration, the streets remain dirty, and the speaker questions the societal attitude that tolerates this disparity. The speaker suggests that the problem is not about infrastructure or funding but about the collective mindset of the people. Using the example of Little India in Singapore, the speaker highlights how Indians can influence the cleanliness standards of an area. The talk emphasizes the need for a change in behavior and mindset to address the issue of public filth, coining the term 'Ugly Indian' to describe those who contribute to the problem.

05:01

🔨 The Power of Action: Transforming Public Spaces in India

The speaker discusses various social experiments and initiatives undertaken in Bangalore to tackle the issue of public filth. These include the use of behavioral psychology to understand and influence Indian behavior towards cleanliness. The speaker highlights the success of the 'Broken Window Theory' and the 'Tragedy of the Commons' in improving public spaces without the need for increased budgets or systemic changes. Examples such as the transformation of a wall with paan stains and the introduction of the Tere Bin, a designer dustbin, demonstrate how simple and cost-effective solutions can make a significant impact. The speaker emphasizes the importance of taking action, rather than just talking or complaining, to bring about change in public spaces.

10:01

🌐 Social Media and Community Engagement in Urban Revitalization

The speaker talks about the role of social media, particularly Facebook, in inspiring and spreading the movement for cleaner public spaces in India. The Ugly Indian Movement, which focuses on results rather than the identity of the participants, has been successful in transforming over 400 spots with a high survival rate of improvements. The speaker dispels common myths about social movements, such as the difficulty of getting volunteers and funding. The talk highlights the importance of focusing on results, engaging with the community, and partnering with government entities to create lasting change in urban environments.

15:02

👷‍♀️ Direct Community Action: Case Studies in Urban Improvement

The speaker presents case studies of direct community action that led to significant improvements in urban areas, such as the transformation of an open toilet and the creation of the Wonderloo, an open-air urinal. The speaker emphasizes the importance of anonymity in the Ugly Indian Movement, which allows people to focus on the work rather than on personal attributes or motivations. The talk concludes with a call to action for individuals to take responsibility for their streets and to engage in community projects to improve public spaces. The speaker shares examples of how a simple act of fixing a broken footpath or cleaning a subway can have a profound impact on the community and inspire others to join in the effort.

Keywords

💡Filth

Filth refers to dirt or refuse that is unsightly and unclean. In the video, it is a central theme representing the state of public spaces in India. The speaker uses the term to describe the condition of streets and public areas that are not maintained, contrasting with the cleanliness of houses and the pride of the nation in its technological achievements.

💡Civic Standards

Civic standards denote the level of cleanliness, orderliness, and general upkeep expected in a community or city. The script discusses how these standards seem to decline when a group of Indians lives in a neighborhood, such as Little India in Singapore, suggesting a disparity between the collective behavior of residents and the cleanliness standards of the host country.

💡Public Filth

Public filth is the term used by the speaker to describe the litter and uncleanliness found in public spaces. It is a recurring issue in the video, with the speaker challenging the audience to acknowledge this problem and to understand that it reflects poorly on Indian society, despite the country's other achievements.

💡Broken Window Theory

The Broken Window Theory is a criminological concept suggesting that signs of disorder, such as broken windows, encourage further disorder and crime. In the video, it is used to explain how the initial signs of neglect in public spaces can lead to a cycle of increasing disarray and disrespect for the environment.

💡Tragedy of the Commons

The Tragedy of the Commons is an economic theory that describes a situation where individuals, acting independently according to their own self-interest, deplete a shared resource. In the context of the video, it is used to illustrate the lack of care for public spaces compared to private ones, leading to the degradation of communal areas.

💡Social Experiments

Social experiments are systematic studies that investigate how individuals or groups interact and behave in real-world scenarios. The speaker mentions social experiments conducted in Bangalore to understand and influence the behavior of Indians towards public cleanliness, aiming to subtly encourage positive change without direct instruction.

💡Ugly Indian

The term 'Ugly Indian' is used metaphorically in the video to describe individuals who contribute to the uncleanliness and disorder of public spaces. It is a self-reflective term used by the speaker to encourage the audience to recognize their role in the problem and to take action towards improvement.

💡Dignified

Dignified refers to the state of being worthy of honor or respect. In the script, the speaker discusses the creation of the 'Wonderloo,' an open-air urinal designed to provide a more dignified way for men to urinate, thereby preserving the public space and improving the community's image.

💡Citizen Engagement

Citizen engagement refers to the active participation of residents in the improvement of their community or city. The video emphasizes the importance of citizen engagement in solving civic problems, showcasing examples where collective efforts have led to tangible improvements in public spaces.

💡Anonymity

Anonymity is the state of being unidentified or unacknowledged. The speaker highlights the importance of anonymity in the 'Ugly Indian' movement, allowing individuals to focus on the results of their actions rather than personal recognition, and encouraging more people to join the cause without fear of judgment.

💡Chalta Hai

'Chalta Hai' is a Hindi phrase often used to express a casual or indifferent attitude towards problems or shortcomings. In the video, it symbolizes the complacency that the speaker argues needs to be replaced with proactive behavior, as evidenced by the transformation of a neglected footpath outside the venue of the talk.

💡Kaam Chalu, Mooh Bandh

This Hindi phrase translates to 'Work ongoing, mouth closed,' advocating for action over talk. The speaker uses this phrase to emphasize the importance of taking initiative and making tangible changes without seeking recognition or engaging in unnecessary discussions.

Highlights

The speaker, Anamik Nagrik, highlights the paradox of India's ability to send a rocket to Mars while struggling with street cleanliness.

Anamak Nagrik questions the Indian mindset of keeping houses clean but tolerating filth on the streets.

The talk discusses the ineffectiveness of increased budgets and the absence of corruption as solutions to urban cleanliness.

Anamak Nagrik introduces the concept of 'Ugly Indians' to describe the collective civic irresponsibility towards public spaces.

The speaker uses the example of Little India in Singapore to illustrate the disparity in maintenance between Indian and non-Indian spaces.

Anamak Nagrik emphasizes that the problem of public filth is not about systems but about the people's attitudes and behaviors.

The Broken Window Theory and the Tragedy of the Commons are discussed as psychological and economic frameworks explaining India's civic issues.

The speaker shares success stories of social experiments in Bangalore, where behavioral changes were induced without people realizing it.

The importance of making public spaces beautiful to command respect and deter littering is underscored.

Anamak Nagrik discusses the 'Tere Bin' project, a designer dustbin initiative that improved aesthetics and functionality in public spaces.

The talk highlights the power of community involvement in solving civic problems, as seen in various neighborhood transformations.

The speaker shares the 'Wonderloo' innovation, an open-air urinal designed to provide a dignified space for men to urinate and rescue public spaces.

Anamak Nagrik emphasizes the importance of focusing on results rather than on who is doing the work or their motivations.

The talk demonstrates the effectiveness of social media, particularly Facebook, in spreading awareness and inspiring action.

The speaker refutes common myths about social movements, such as the ease of getting volunteers and the cost of projects.

Anamak Nagrik calls for a shift from the 'chalta hai' attitude to a 'kaam chalu' mindset for positive change.

The talk concludes with a call to action for individuals to take responsibility for their streets and make an impact.

Transcripts

Transcriber: Helena Bowen Reviewer: Denise RQ

Don't let my mask scare you, I'm just trying to stay anonymous.

My name is Anamik Nagrik.

I'm a proud Indian and I have one problem with my country.

And the problem is: why is India so filthy?

I've traveled outside India, in neighboring countries in Asia,

my friends have been to Africa, and we can all agree on one thing:

in India we tolerate filth on our streets.

But why?

We can send a rocket to Mars, but we can't fix this problem.

Why do we keep our houses clean and our streets dirty?

Even McDonalds has come to Bangalore.

It's cleaning the steps of its outlet, but you can see how dirty it is outside.

They're either incapable or unwilling to fix what's outside.

So what's the problem? Why are we like this?

And I think all of us in this audience know the answer:

"It's not my problem."

"I pay tax. I vote. Isn't that enough? What more should I do?"

Some of you will say: "OK. I want to fix it.

I don't even know how to start!"

Let me take you to dream land. In dream land, there is no corruption.

The government is strong. Our budget goes up ten times.

Do you think our cities will be clean? What do you think? The answer is no.

I think we all realize it's not about money or systems.

It is about us as a people.

Look at this picture.

Can someone shout out: which city is this from?

Look closely, look at the furniture. Can you guess? Shout out.

Which city is this?

It's not Bangalore.

Look closely again.

There's a clue out here, the Bank of India.

The other clue is that it's very poorly maintained.

There are paan stains everywhere.

This is a restaurant.

It is Singapore, and it is Little India in Singapore.

And what does this tell us about us? What is Singapore's brand image?

Cleanliness, it is a fine city, they enforce laws, they are very affluent.

They care about their look.

But when a group of Indians lives in one neighborhood,

we seem to bring down the civic standards.

We can beat the world's best systems.

I would like to say, and I'm an Indian,

we are the undisputed world champions of public filth.

Why do we need a policeman when we have a traffic light?

Because we are a society that doesn't like to follow rules.

In Bangalore, dustbins are not allowed.

You are expected to keep your garbage at home

until the collector comes, but it doesn't seem to work.

So one neighborhood in Bangalore, Indiranagar, said, "Let's put dustbins."

So they put dustbins and see what happened.

We don't like to follow rules, so all the garbage is outside the dustbins.

Now this is the problem with us as a society:

We all need to admit that we are all Ugly Indians

and more importantly, only we can save us from ourselves.

As long as we're emotional about it, we won't solve it.

Do you think there is any hope? What do you all think?

A lot of people have given up, they leave the country,

they stay in gated communities.

But some people said, "No, let us try and fix this problem

in an Indian way by understanding the Indian psychology."

So social experiments began on Church Street in Bangalore in 2010,

Here the idea was simple: Let us understand Indian's behavior

from a point of view of culture, behavioral psychology.

Let's see what it takes to make an Ugly Indian change.

But most importantly, without him or her realizing it.

We don't like to be told what to do.

We have to be fooled into improving our behavior.

Can we nudge an Ugly Indian towards better behavior in public spaces?

You may have heard of the Broken Window Theory

which says that if a place is ugly, it becomes uglier.

If a place is beautiful, it commands respect.

There's another theory in economics called the Tragedy of the Commons,

which means we care for our private spaces,

we don't care about our public spaces.

India is the perfect example of both these theories in action.

This is Koramangala.

That lady is throwing garbage on the road in a beautiful, upscale neighborhood.

Why is she doing it? Because someone has already thrown before.

What can we do to make her change her behavior without her knowing it?

This is a typical example of civic problems in India:

Paan stains on the wall.

This is on the wall of Deccan Herald Newspaper

It has been like this forever.

Because there are paan stains, people urinate on it.

Nobody walks on that footpath.

A few people sat, and observed it, and tried an experiment.

This is what they did: they painted the wall,

they painted a red band at the bottom, they put some flower pots,

and incredibly, there were no more paan stains on that wall.

And why?

Because the person spitting paan is trying his best to be clean.

He chooses to spit into the pot.

If he by mistake spits into the corner, the red color masks it.

Once people stopped spitting, people actually go on the footpath.

It works.

There are dozens of walls in Bangalore with the red band at the bottom

that has taken an Indian solution to apply to an Indian problem.

This is very common; this is Indiranagar.

The young school boy is facing a death trap.

We see this very often. Have you never seen a death trap?

Bangalore is full of death traps. The little boy has to walk around.

Look at that footpath.

If you ask the residents, they have complained for years.

Nothing has happened.

Three people said, "Let's fix it." This is what they did.

They actually went and fixed the footpath. It has remained fixed for 6 months.

What's the message? If you see a problem, go fix it.

Nobody stops you. You can actually make a change.

Don't waste your time complaining.

Litter bins are a problem. Why?

They can look like animals, they're made of fiberglass,

they catch fire with cigarettes, some litter bins are rusting,

they're falling underground.

Don't litter bins look so dirty

that they actually bring down the aesthetics of the place?

The litter bin is supposed to make it clean.

Sometimes they're not where you want them so people improvise.

They put litter in trees.

Some people said, "can we design a litter bin that will not get stolen,

looks beautiful, that people will use, that lasts through the weather,

and actually improves the aesthetics of the place?"

They came up with something called the Tere Bin, a designer dustbin.

This is on Brigade Road in Bangalore.

The beautiful part is it is not stealable.

Nobody wants it because it is made of materials nobody wants.

It works, it looks clean.

For the last 3 years, there are 200 dustbins across Bangalore.

It has worked because somebody applied his mind to solve a problem.

This is in front of ITPL.

The dustbin is where you need it: a bus stop.

People use it. It has worked.

This is the biggest problem of all: open garbage.

This is outside the Koramangala Club.

You would think they would figure it out, but they didn't, and some people said,

"Let's make this as an example," and this is what they did.

It has remained fixed. It is not a photo op at all.

(Applause)

The reason well known places are taken is that if people who are rich, powerful,

and with social pressure cannot do it, then there is something wrong with us.

This is outside the house of Dr. Rajkumar.

Poor Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar has to see this every year.

He's got amazing social power, he couldn't fix it.

This is what was done.

It has remained fixed for the last 6 months.

(Applause)

This is J.P. Nagar outside Ambareesh's house.

We've chosen people who are important who can get things done,

but it requires the public to do it.

This is outside a slum. This is cow dung.

This is where children wait for their school bus.

It's become a beautiful bus stop.

This is outside a tech park.

Every tech park in Bangalore has got open drains.

There are billion dollar companies in there.

Apparently nobody is willing to fix this. They're all blaming somebody else.

A few people went, made a safe zone, made it a bus stop.

It's working!

So the point is whether it's a slum, or a tech park, or an affluent zone,

you can make change.

This is in Whitefield nearby. This is an open toilet.

The slum at the back has people who use the toilet.

That's a wine shop. This is in the Jagriti theater.

It's crazy, so some people in Whitefield said, "Let's fix it."

So they fixed it, but what happened? People still threw garbage.

You cannot fix a place by just painting it.

You have to solve the underlying problem.

So on day two, five people went to all the houses and said,

"Tomorrow we will make a new system

so you don't need to put your garbage on the ground."

See what happened.

What is interesting is that all the people,

the slumdwellers, the wine shop owner, the Jagriti people, people in apartments,

got together to solve a common problem.

They had never spoken to each other before.

They used to complain to each other about each other.

When the community comes together to fix a common problem,

it is no longer a tragedy of the commons, it is a victory of the commons.

This particular project has spawned many more projects in Whitefield.

(Applause)

Now look closely.

This is actually urine outside a wine shop.

Indian men need to urinate and let's accept that.

Let's not get emotional about it.

Can we make them urinate in a dignified way

and rescue the public space?

This is urine outside a wine shop. The wine shop owner couldn't be bothered.

It created an innovation where someone said,

"Let's create a dignified way for men to urinate and rescue our public space."

It resulted in something called the Wonderloo:

which is an open-air urinal, a private space where men urinate,

and the rest of the wall gets rescued.

Now who did all these projects? Look closely. There are senior citizens.

That lady is in her seventies. She's holding a crow bar.

There are retired army officers, slum children, the wine shop owner.

They all came together and did this project.

There was no contract label. It was done entirely by citizens.

That evening, people came in their car to buy liquor,

and they used the restroom in the open.

Everybody is happy.

All the stakeholders in that spot eventually got what they wanted.

Even though they have hugely opposing ideologies,

they're getting along, and that's the big message.

So what do you think? Is there any hope?

Yeah, that's good.

Over 400 spots have been fixed, but more interesting

is that 90% have survived, and that's an excellent survival rate

for problems that were so chronic

that no one even knew how to start solving them.

But how does it all work? That's what I'm hear to tell you.

It's not about painting a wall, there's much more to it than that.

The most important thing is this: (Indian) "Kaam Chalu, Mooh Bandh!"

Only work, no talk! Bayi Muchko, Kelasa Hachko.

It's as simple as that.

In India, we talk too much. We refuse to listen.

If you decide to do and don't talk, incredible things can be achieved.

Don't lecture, don't moralize, don't create awareness drives,

don't tell people what to do.

Don't act condescending and say, "I know the solution to your problem."

Because it might not even be a problem at all.

If you take the lead, others will follow.

Some of you may have been in protests and dharnas.

When you go on a protest, some people join you,

some people ignore you; it's the same with good work.

If you go and do disruptive, positive anarchy,

some will follow you, some will ignore you,

but nobody will stop you.

The only person stopping you from going out and doing good is yourself.

Don't blame anybody else for stopping you.

Don't expect credit, don't expect applause.

Stay anonymous.

Don't take anybody's money. Use your own, whatever your means are.

If a single person does something within his own means,

you'll be surprised how many other people join you.

The moment you take money you're almost losing your independence.

Gandhi famously said, "Be the change you want to see."

There's a slight problem with that, with due respect to Gandhi.

If the situation is hopeless, you first need to see the change

that you want to be to believe that you can even make the change.

That's where Facebook has been fantastic.

Every before and after photograph goes on Facebook.

People say, "Wow, it's possible. Let me try it."

Creating belief that our pathetic civic situation can improve

is the biggest lesson the Ugly Indian Movement has learned.

Focus on results, not on who is doing it, how it's being done.

If you can deliver a before and after photograph, you're good.

If not, Facebook is a very brutal decider of whether the project was good or not.

There are many myths about social movements that have been broken.

Volunteers are the easiest to get.

Bangalore has thousands of people who come out on weekends and work.

These are not social activists.

These are people with regular jobs who take time out to work.

Money is not a problem at all.

Many of the projects shown cost less than 3,000 rupees or 60 USD.

If 10 people get together and put in 300 rupees each you can fix a spot.

It's cheaper than going out for dinner or coffee

in one of Bangalore's upscale restaurants.

And the best part:

You can make a dramatic change without asking anybody else for help.

A lot of people worry about the government.

The government loves it if the citizens engage.

Just paying taxes and voting is not enough.

If you come out and work the government loves it.

The Bangalore and the BBMP have taken the first step

in partnering with citizen movements.

It is unprecedented in India, and we are hopeful

that other cities take note that when the collective energies

of the government employees and the citizens are put

on the common cause, improving the city, dramatic change can happen.

We spend too much time fighting the government.

That should stop. India is truly rising.

What began in Bangalore on Church Street four years ago quickly spread,

And now there are literally 20-30 teams operational in Bangalore.

All their work is on Facebook and slowly, across India,

there are 30-40 cities: Kanpur, Agra, Chennai.

You just name a city, people are coming out.

And you know the best part?

None of them know each other, nobody talks.

The only thing that counts is results.

So wherever you are, go out and do something,

post it to Ugly Indian.

If your work is on Ugly Indian, you become famous on your street

and other people join you.

These are random photos sent by people: Kanpur, Amritsar, Agra, Chennai.

Everybody is trying to copy, emulate what's happening elsewhere.

Simple message:

if you want to change the world, start with your own street.

If you want your street to change, you should do it.

If you wait for somebody else to do it, it may never happen.

The choice is yours.

A question that is often asked is why are Ugly Indians anonymous?

So far I've revealed my gender, because of my tone of voice,

and the language that I speak in which I am proficient.

But you don't know what I speak at home, you don't know my age,

you don't know my religion, you don't know my caste,

you don't know my political views,

whether I have a ponytail or whether I have a tattoo.

The problem with India is we make judgments on people

and not on the work they do.

The reason The Ugly Indian has worked is that the focus is only on results.

Not who did it, why are they doing it, what are their motivations?

Anonymity allows a lot of people to come and join the fold.

The message is stop being an Ugly Indian from today.

Go out and do something.

Do you think there is any hope?

I came here two days back to check out this hall.

This is how it looked like outside where we are.

That is the footpath. It says, "way to school."

Very helpful if you're going to school, you should take this footpath.

That's exactly outside this hall. This is what you would normally do.

This is a "chalta hai" attitude: I don't care. It's not my problem.

I need to get from A to B. I'll just jump over it.

We need to change from "chalta hai" to "kaam chalu".

So what did we do? We went to a construction site,

we got some laborers, we got some iron rods,

We fixed it so "chalta hai" got changed to "kaam chalu."

If I'm going to spend 18 minutes doing "mooh chalu" in this auditorium,

I will spend 18 minutes working outside, and in 18 minutes that place was fixed.

(Applause)

When you go out today, please walk on that footpath

on the way to Brigade school because it was fixed 2 days ago.

We got into the josh of it.

Just outside the entrance of this hall is an open electricity box for the garbage.

We spent an hour and fixed it.

When you go out today, you will see work done by three people

three days back because they felt they needed to do it.

The question to ask is: have you made an impact on your street?

And we love TEDx. They said TEDx is a talk fest.

Can TEDx do anything?

So 2 days ago, 100 people from this audience came out

and did a spot fix in Bangalore

and that's the story we're going to share with you now.

This is K.R. Circle, one of Bangalore's favorite circles.

It's a beautiful place, but with one problem:

pedestrians have to cross on the road.

There are underpasses there, beautifully designed,

but they are either closed or if they're open, they look like this.

That is urine that has not been cleaned for years.

The lady coming in is holding her nose. Just look at this lady.

She has to wait for the man to cross. She walks bravely, holding her nose

in the dark, dingy, urine-filled room to get to work. Isn't that sad?

These girls are risking their lives crossing to go to college.

They don't want to use the underpass. That girl is making a decision:

she'd rather walk on the road than go in the underpass.

This girl goes to college with her nose closed.

That is the Mayor of Bangalore.

We invited him to come inspect this and he said,

"We've tried for years to fix it. Can the public help?"

The public said yes.

A group of the public went in and cleaned this place.

The mayor came and joined.

They transformed the subway and for the last 3 weeks,

it's been running well.

This is what it looks like now.

2 days ago, the TEDx volunteers came here.

They're entering the subway to check it out.

This is the clean subway. See how different it is.

(Applause)

Look at how many people are walking. They're smiling. It's a friendly place.

All it takes to convert a public space is a little bit of sincerity and effort.

And the public has rescued a subway.

They came here to see the change that they wanted to be.

This is what they did: In the next hour,

100 people from this room actually went and cleaned up the subways.

This is how they look: 10 subways repainted.

As we speak the subways are being cleaned and come next week, they will all open.

6 subways in K.R. Circle open

because of the efforts taken by people at TEDx.

This is what it looks like:

if I want to walk from the library to Freedom park, it's very difficult.

But what they have done now is

Bangalore has beautiful under-connected pedestrian walkways lying dormant.

They have been rescued.

We have K.R. Circle for cars

and we have a pedestrian circle for pedestrians.

What do you think? Is there any hope?

(Audience) Yes!

All the people who worked on the spot fix give yourselves a big hand.

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)