'Hate my country...': Student's viral post slams India’s abject civic apathy, sparks debate

A frustrated engineering student’s Reddit post has gone viral after he declared, “I have started to hate my country,” citing civic apathy, mismanagement in public services, and lack of basic responsibility among fellow citizens. The long rant has struck a nerve online, sparking intense debate about India’s everyday failures in discipline and civic sense.

Mother injured, friends who laughed

The student described how his 54-year-old mother slipped on discarded banana peels while buying groceries, leaving her with a badly injured knee. “Everyone knows people can slip on banana peel if we throw it on road, yet they do it… no literal civic sense,” he wrote.

He also recounted being ridiculed by his hostel friends after picking up snack wrappers and bottles instead of littering. “Four out of five friends laughed at me. I’m from Bihar myself, but people from rural backgrounds litter the most. No one cares about responsibility.”

Queue jumping, hospital hassles

The post highlighted India’s daily culture of breaking rules — from students cutting queues in the hostel mess to chaotic management at AIIMS Delhi. “Counter 3 told me to go to counter 6, then 8, then room 10, and back again to counter 3 for an X-ray. Even visitors littered coffee cans and wrappers inside the ward when dustbins were right outside,” he said.

Disillusioned, the student concluded that he wants to leave India once financially secure. “The basic responsibility of a human is to not disturb another human… yet this country always fails. I’m gonna leave this country as soon as I earn good money.”

Netizens react

The rant triggered a wave of reactions on Reddit. Some empathised, saying civic sense is lacking both in India and among Indians abroad. “They lack empathy. Unless civic sense is taught in both schools and homes, it’s a lost cause,” one user wrote.

Others dismissed “large population” as an excuse: “China and the US are also massive, yet their civic standards are far better. The issue is enforcement and mentality, not numbers.”

A few shared darker experiences of crime and corruption. One wrote, “My mother was attacked in a local park for her chain. When we tried to file a complaint, cops blamed us instead. Indians are the biggest enemies of Indians. Can’t wait to get out.”

Mirror to civic apathy

While some defended India, many acknowledged that the post reflects deep-rooted problems — from casual littering and indiscipline to inefficiency in healthcare and law enforcement. For young Indians like the Reddit poster, the frustrations have grown so overwhelming that leaving the country feels like the only solution.

The debate has laid bare a harsh truth: change may only come when civic sense is treated not as an afterthought, but as the foundation of a functioning society.