The Ugly Indian

The Ugly Indian: How this group is cleaning India's mess

1. The Ugly Indian How this group is cleaning India's mess

2. Introduction Indian democracy is a beautiful agreement between the government and the citizens of the state duly approved by the Constitution. Citizens expect all the rights and facilities from the government which is unquestionable from the legal point of view. However, if we start to think rationally and morally, are Indian citizens really fulfilling all their duties and responsibilities which have been enshrined under the Fundamental Duties of the Constitution of India?

3. Indian Democracy

4. Introduction The answer would largely be a no. There is a greater need for introspection to delve deeper into the essence of civic sense, which is widely missing in India.

5. Poor Civic Sense

6. Introduction Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan scheme for a cleaner India with much fanfare. But long before Modi’s announcement, a group of Bengaluru citizens were anonymously doing their bit.

7. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

8. The Ugly Indians The group, known as The Ugly Indian , describes itself as a “faceless, leaderless” volunteer organization. Formed a year ago to clean areas around Brigade and MG roads in Bangalore, it uses Facebook and its own website to attract new members and has organized 104 cleanup drives so far.

9. The Ugly Indian

10. The Ugly Indian The group’s founders may conceal their identity, but they are very open in their criticism of their fellow citizens. “ It’s time we admitted that many of India’s problems are because many of us are Ugly Indians ,” their Web site says. “We tolerate an incredible amount of filth.”

11. The Ugly Indian

12. The Ugly Indian Calling itself The Ugly Indian, the self-effacing motley group has been cleaning the city streets since 2010.

13. The Ugly Indian

14. The Ugly Indian It strictly prohibits members from speaking to the media, and even if they do, they do not disclose their identity. “The names of individuals are not important what matters are results,” claims www.theuglyindian.com. Their motto is simple: kaamchalu, moohbandh (start working, stop talking). They believe the problem lies with the people and not the system.

15. www.theuglyindian.com

16. The Ugly Indian Not all Indians are ugly With help from volunteers and local civic authorities , the group is striving to not only keep its city clean, but also bring about a change in the “ugly” attitude of Indians.

17. The Ugly Indian

18. The Ugly Indian They identify “ugly spots” in the city and “fix” them what the group calls “spot fixing” . A spot fix could be anything from removing garbage to covering open drains, removing paan (betel nut leaf) stains from walls to restoring public places used as urinals.

19. Spot Fixing

20. Spot Fixing

21. Spot Fixing

22. The Ugly Indian On the scheduled day, members reach the spot equipped with face masks, hand gloves, brooms, mops, spades, buckets and dustbins. “We are expected not to socialise and waste time. We spend every single minute doing our work,”. Within hours, they restore an ugly spot to a clean and green public space.

23. On the scheduled day, members reach the spot equipped with face masks, hand gloves, brooms, mops, spades, buckets and dustbins

24. Within hours, they restore an ugly spot to a clean and green public space

25. Within hours, they restore an ugly spot to a clean and green public space

26. The Ugly Indian There are no criteria for people to join the campaign. Those who want to contribute can write to [email protected] or sign up on the group’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/theugl.yindian.

27. There are no criteria for people to join the campaign

28. The Ugly Indian It is open to all. Most new members these days are IT professionals and students. Many multinational companies in Bengaluru are also supporting The Ugly Indian by either encouraging employees to join our spot fixes or form groups to clean up the area around their organisation.

29. The Ugly Indians group is open to all.

30. Most new members these days are IT professionals and students

31. The Ugly Indian The Group Raises Its Funds From Members And “Does Not Entertain External Sponsors For Spot Fixes”.

32. The Ugly Indian The Ugly Indian are an anonymous group of volunteers who clean Indian streets. Volunteers can join the group by sending a mail to The Ugly Indian, or by registering one's name and email address on their official Facebook page.

33. The Ugly Indian are an anonymous group of volunteers who clean Indian streets

34. Spot-fixing TUI calls cleaning the street "spot-fixing". TUI chooses small segments of road each week to clean: pavements piled up with plastic, defaced walls, footpaths rendered unusable by potholes as spot-fixing places. All tools, materials and instructions are provided on the spot. All spot-fixes are self-funded and volunteers are requested to make a contribution towards material costs.

35. Spot-fixing

36. Spot-fixing

37. The Ugly Indian Guidelines for volunteers The Ugly Indian's philosophy is " Kaam chalu mooh bandh . Stop Talking, Start Working." Apart from this, TUI has general guidelines regarding spot-fixing. No lectures, no moralising, no activism, no self-righteous anger. No confrontation, no arguments, no debates, no pamphlets, no advocacy.

38. The Ugly Indian Guidelines for volunteers

39. The Ugly Indian Guidelines for volunteers Don’t step on anyone’s toes, don’t take sides in any ideological debates. Support existing systems and improve their effectiveness for the greater good. Basically, get real. Treat everyone with sincerity, respect and dignity first, and the greater good will be an outcome."

40. The Ugly Indian Guidelines for volunteers

41. TUI recognises the spot-fix as a success only if It lasts for at least 90 days . It requires no ongoing supervision . It is low-cost (ideally free) and easy to implement and replicate It changes the behaviour and attitudes of all concerned It creates minimal disruption in the daily actions of everyone concerned (nobody should lose a job, lose a source of income, or get seriously inconvenienced – because it takes only one Ugly Indian to undo the good work of a hundred others.

42. The Ugly Indian

43. Anonymity Anonymity is a big attraction of the movement. The Ugly Indian describes itself as a "faceless, leaderless" volunteer organization . It is made up of self-driven and motivated people who are mostly professionals in the 25-40 age group. They remain strictly anonymous.

44. Anonymity

45. Anonymity The Ugly Indians have chosen to remain anonymous as the names and identities of specific individuals are not important and they respond to media queries only by email.

46. Products by The Ugly Indian Products by The Ugly Indian The group has also come up with products like Tere Bin and WonderLoo and their new venture is Smart Waste Drop Box which was installed in Victoria Layout in Bengaluru on June 2 for a trial period until June 10. Volunteers of the group showed residents how to segregate waste and how to use smart waste drop boxes

47. Products by The Ugly Indian

48. Products by The Ugly Indian T ereBin TereBins are dustbins provided by TUI for public use. TereBins weigh around 20–25 kilograms (44–55 lb) and are meant for paper cups, banana skins, cigarette packets and similar small litter . TUI provides tereBin service which involves identifying ideal locations, installing the bins, setting up a daily clearing system and integrating with the local garbage clearance system and daily supervision. Terebins can be "adopted"

49. TereBin

50. Products by The Ugly Indian WonderLOO The wonderloo is an open urinal that protects the privacy of the users. The loo is unmanned and free to use. As of 2014, some 10 urinals are in operation. TUI, in association with the local BBMP office, ensures that each wonderloo is cleaned twice a day

51. WonderLOO

52. Smart Waste Drop Box

53. Credit And Advertising According to TUI, they have declined multiple offers from companies wanting to sponsor tereBins and WonderLOOs in return for advertising. However, TUI accepts adoption requests, especially from companies, if they do so without advertising on the specific object.

54. The Ugly Indian

55. Credit And Advertising The group is leaderless as the belief is they don’t require a face to represent their organisation. Names and identities of the Ugly Indian remain hidden and they reply to the media only via mail.

56. The group is leaderless as the belief is they don’t require a face to represent their organisation

57. Small steps make a difference The impact of their work is visible from the change that has come about. Take the Wind Tunnel Road in Vinayak Nagar, Bangalore . A few months ago, the pavement on one side of the road was a dumping ground for garbage. The Ugly Indian went about cleaning this spot. The result: a clean and colourful footpath with benches for people to rest.

58. Small steps make a difference The Koramangala Club area saw a similar transformation. This is an affluent neighbourhood in the heart of Koramangala, which houses many tech parks. But in the absence of civic amenities such as dustbins, residents dumped garbage on the road. Once the The Ugly Indian started their spot fixing, Koramangala Club looked as good as new.

59. Small steps make a difference The Ugly Indian’s sincere efforts have also led to a magical transformation of the six subways in Bengaluru’s K R Circle . T he group changed the dark, urine-filled subways to underground running and walking trails, complete with lights, graffiti and paintings.

60. The Ugly Indian’s sincere efforts have also led to a magical transformation of the six subways in Bengaluru’s K R Circle

61. The Ugly Indian’s sincere efforts have also led to a magical transformation of the six subways in Bengaluru’s K R Circle

62. Small steps make a difference These are just three of the numerous spot fixes undertaken by the group. Most have been taken up in Bengaluru’s central business district, including M G Road, Brigade Road and Church Street.

63. Small steps make a difference

64. Teaming up for better results The group is helped by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), or Greater Bengaluru Municipal Corporation. The two entered into an agreement on July 19 this year with the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

65. Teaming up for better results

66. Teaming up for better results The success of the campaign can be gauged from the response of the public, in terms of encouragement, participation and commitment to maintain cleanliness. The group has more than 200,000 followers on Facebook. The members regularly update the page on the latest spot fixes and post photos of their work, which gives better accountability to an otherwise anonymous group.

67. Teaming up for better results

68. Teaming up for better results The group members say they try to ensure that people do not go back to throwing garbage. After a spot fix, the group keeps a close watch on the area in what they call the 15-day test. If a spot remains clean for this period, they deem their effort successful. Most of the spots fixed by the group have remained clean beyond 15 days.

69. Teaming up for better results

70. The Ugly Indian The successful experiments by a few Ugly Indian in an Indian city.

71. Filth on the Footpath

72. Spot Fixed

73. Paan Stains

74. Spot Fixed

75. Spot Fixed

76. Open Dumps

77. Spot Fixed

78. Cigarette Litter

79. Spot Fixed

80. Death Traps

81. Spot Fixed

82. Public Urination

83. Spot Fixed

84. Inspiring Indians to do their bit The cleanliness drive by The Ugly Indian has encouraged people in other cities to start similar initiatives , such as Mumbai Rising, Gurgaon Rising, Kolhapur Rising and Meerut Rising. In Jaipur , the group is called Shut Up and Do It. These groups get together in their cities and beautify public places such as community centres, parks and markets .

85. Inspiring Indians to do their bit

86. Inspiring Indians to do their bit The citizens who are part of the camp- aign believe their initiative is a small start. But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For this country, this step has been taken by the “Ugly Indian”.

87. Ugly Indian

88. References Bengaluru's Faceless Warriors 'The Ugly Indians' Are On A Clean Mission https://youtu.be/NAt80x25ZN4 The Ugly Indian https://www.theuglyindian.com/ The Ugly Indian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ugly_Indian The Ugly Indians' clean up Bengaluru https://youtu.be/1xi1aLmkS4c The 'Ugly Indians' Beautify Flyovers In Bengaluru https://youtu.be/GRfSoY3bufk 'Ugly Indians' clean up Bangalore https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15769402

89. U gly is the new beautiful…