I went to Australia for work. I came back questioning my own country.
In Australia, it wasn't the big things that got me. Not the skyline, not the beaches, not the wildlife parks.
It was the small things.
People stopping at a pedestrian crossing with no authority in sight.
A bin that was actually being used.
A park that looked like no human had set foot in it.
I kept waiting for the exception. For the guy who cuts the queue. The wrapper was tossed from a car window. The signal jumped because no one was watching.
It barely came.
And I know — miscreants exist everywhere. But percentage matters. When the majority follows the rules, the exceptions feel like exceptions. In India, the exceptions feel like the rule.
This made me curious about Australia, and I started reading. I have never been more confused and disappointed at the same time. Do you know Australia wasn't built by philosophers or saints? The First Fleet arrived in 1788 – eleven ships, 736 convicts, sent 14,000 miles from Britain because British prisons were overflowing.
Roughly 20% of today's Australian population descends from those convicts.
A nation literally founded as a dumping ground for Britain's unwanted. And yet, three in four Australians today actively support stronger environmental laws. 95% believe the government should spend more on protecting nature.
Not because their government is perfect – it isn't; their environmental track record has real gaps. But because the citizens expect better and say so loudly.
It happened because institutions were built that applied rules to everyone – not just to the poor, not just to the powerless. People started trusting the system because the system, broadly, showed up.
Then I looked at home – India. Land of saints, thinkers, the Vedas, Chanakya, and Gandhi.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 46% of our newly elected MPs declared criminal cases against themselves.
These are not rumours, not allegations – self-declared, in their own election affidavits. 170 of them had serious charges. Murder. Rape. Kidnapping. The number has been climbing every election since 2004.
And the part that made me feel sick to my stomach?
A candidate with a criminal record had a 15.3% chance of winning. A clean candidate had a 4.4% chance (according to adrindia.org). We're not just tolerating this. We're rewarding it.
Where did we go wrong?
If you think about it -
A country doesn't get bad leaders by accident. It elects the leaders it is willing to accept.
PS: I love India. This isn't cynicism — it's the frustration of someone who keeps hoping we'll get our act together. We have everything we need. Except, apparently, the collective will to demand better. ❤️