‘Lives in India amount to nothing’: Indian tourist goes back ‘ numb’ to Delhi after visiting Sri Lanka, evokes criticism over sense of civic responsibility

The issues of infrastructure, cleanliness, and the behavior of the public have been debated online through social media postings by an Indian citizen who compared the daylong experience in Sri Lanka with that in India.

The forum posting appeared on the “X” forum, where the individual, named Ish, posted insights into why he was troubled after his return to “Delhi” after visiting “Sri Lanka.” He noted that both destinations are not very easy to ignore from the perspective of differences.

"Just reached Delhi back from Sri Lanka, and I am numb," he said, adding, "We Indians do not have to look up to Europe when we have a place with better air, roads, infrastructure and civic sense sitting next to us."

The video not only created an impact on the screen but on the page too, as more than two lakh views came pouring, along with comments from people with experiences in their journey.

Many people agreed with Ish on this. A person had posted, “Once you enter Sri Lanka, you can feel the contrast immediately. Well-made roads, cleanliness, and fresh air abound. Although people strike a familiarity chord, a feeling of strangeness prevails in this environment.” “This is exactly what I experienced after my visit back to SL. We could be very proud of our brand economy worldwide, but then SL bypassed the whole thing and introduced a simpler, cleaner, more dignified, and more charming life. Small towns with small markets, but large chill.” Another user posted. A third voice added, “I just came back from Thailand last week and Sri Lanka in July. The point is, we have a population of 150 crores, and they don’t. The people there have a certain sensitivity. We don’t honk horns, we don’t litter. But they do it right there in the open.” It wasn’t the consensus, however, that the comparison between the two countries had any validity. A contrarian view summarized the imbalance involved and the population density of Sri Lanka relative to Delhi and how that could only be a ratio. “Sri Lanka is more peaceful and clean, but it is not anything like us. Sri Lanka has 360 people per sq km. Delhi has 13,800. India has 1.4 billion people, 22+ languages, a short time span for sustainable development and real defense threats. Scales are all different. Even most Europe can be compared to T2.”