Civic Sense: A Teen Writer's Take on the Anatomy of Responsibility

Values and ethics are not the blood running through a person. They are the skin through which character becomes visible. We rarely notice them in grand speeches or framed quotations. Instead, they reveal themselves in ordinary moments. Whether we stop at a red light on an empty road, pick up a wrapper that isn't ours, wait patiently in a queue, or choose kindness when it seems like breaking the queue would be easier, is a matter of concern nowadays.

India is often described as a nation of immense potential. Yet I sometimes wonder whether our greatest challenge is not a lack of resources, but a shortage of responsibility. We have become comfortable believing that somebody else will fix what is broken. Somebody else will clean the streets. Somebody else will report the damaged streetlight. Somebody else will take the first step. But if everyone waits for somebody else, who is left to act?

To me, civic sense extends far beyond roads and cleanliness. It is equally reflected in the way we treat one another. I remember attending a wedding where I was repeatedly mocked for my weight. Every remark was brushed aside as "just a joke," yet jokes have a way of lingering long after the laughter fades. That experience reminded me that respecting people is as much a civic duty as respecting public spaces.

The same values influence how safe our society feels, especially for girls.

A nation cannot truly call itself progressive unless we mitigate our perspective

WRITTEN BY-

NIMITYA JAIN