'I stayed silent to get home safe': Passenger's 8-hour train ordeal sparks debate on civic sense in India

There was a time when teaching, guiding or helping each other out was a kind act of human deed. Nowadays, pointing something out to someone is most likely to get your collar pulled or even worse, a sudden death.

Take the recent incident of the Mumbai local, where a man was fatally stabbed over an argument on a closed door during the rains. Videos of the event sent the entire nation into shock, worrying over how quickly people have begun to lose their temper over things.In light of such cases, it seems people are now going back into their shells, rather than gathering the courage to point out the wrongs. Taking to X, a young man named Aaaraynsh shared a horrible train journey where the behaviour of a passenger was irritating him and others around and yet he stayed silent, in order to protect himself.He shared that the passenger next to his seat had spent the whole 8-hour train journey eating and throwing leftovers under their seat, even when a dustbin was placed just outside. Later, when people were trying to sleep, they were playing videos loudly on their phones.Rather than teaching the person a lesson in civic sense, Aaraynsh said he stopped himself "because getting home safe is more important than teaching a random stranger morality."

"I have a family, goals, and plans for the future. You need to be practical. You can't change the whole country," he added.Moreover, he warned that even if one confronts such people, they will not learn or acknowledge their mistake but will instead start a fight that can turn violent. "Mumbai local train incident is one example. Man asked someone to close the door because of the rain and ended up losing his life to a person carrying a knife," he cited.He explained that civic sense can only be taught to people who are willing to listen in a moral society. Otherwise, the "smartest choice is to stay invisible, earn more and build a life where you move up the economic ladder so you and your family can have safer spaces to avoid such people."

Social media reactions

Many social media users aligned with the man's views, while others suggested some solutions."Object the first time someone throws like this. If you don't want conflict and are interested in Gandhigiri - pick up each time they drop, tell them and everyone around and throw it into the dustbin.

Test their shamelessness," one suggested."Correct. I was staying in the hostel and one idiot daily played his phone alarm continuously for 3 hours and disturbed everyone. I complained against him to the manager. Did not want to indulge with such idiots" shared another."You could have simply shared this photo on X and tagged the accounts of Rail Seva, IRCTC, RPF & Railway Ministry. They could have handled those guys perfectly. It's just about using the resources at the right time," suggested a user to whom the man replied that the first question RPF asks is "Who complained? Please come out." and try to resolve the matter within 5 minutes. "But you’ll still have to face those people for the rest of the journey," he added.