Why has societal indifference become the defining trait of our times? Why do rules get broken with impunity, failures shrugged off, and dangers accepted as if they were destiny? We have stopped asking ‘why’ when things go wrong, and instead settle for the convenient ‘because’ offered by those responsible to perform. The tragedy lies not only in unresponsive infrastructure but in a deeper national insensitivity ~ silence, and the apathy to ask why.
Cities choke, roads crumble, water remains polluted, food is adulterated, and healthcare falters. Each crisis is explained away as an accident or inevitability. Children are bitten by stray dogs, passenger buses intimidate with blaring power horns and reckless overtaking, and lives are lost to preventable neglect. A child killed by a speeding car inside a gated society, an engineer drowned in a waterlogged pond near a street, families poisoned by unsafe food ~ these are not isolated tragedies; they are symptoms of a nation that has grown insensitive to its own pain, without asking the ‘why’ of it.
We see motorists racing brand-new cars over potholes without caring for fellow commuters, riders without helmets, drivers glued to mobile phones, and traffic police standing idle as chaos unfolds. There is no justification for most of the roads including the much talked about Eastern Peripheral expressway to have dangerous and uncomfortable pot holes, rough and uneven surfaces. No suspension in any car can ever withstand such surfaces. The irony is that despite this, we all pay toll tax.
Yet, there is no ‘why,’ there is no answer and there is none to take responsibility. Sadly, we neither demand nor ask ‘why’. Why do road accidents remain one of the starkest indicators of our indifference? In 2024 alone, India recorded 4.73 lakh accidents and 1.70 lakh deaths. These are not just numbers; they are families shattered, futures erased. Unsafe driving on roads has become routine. Cars and delivery motorcycles speed recklessly, residents use mobile phones while driving, and children are left vulnerable. Yet enforcement is lax, discipline absent, and public outrage muted. Even when CCTV cameras capture violations, few societies enforce penalties.
In the absence of ‘why,’ our silence becomes complicity. Road safety mirrors this indifference. Unchecked vehicles and an exploited gig economy put millions at risk daily. Speed is prized over safety, exploitation over dignity, and silence over reform. The irony is that every big town or district has sufficient staff, funds, and facilities to address these failures. Yet large areas remain covered with plastic waste, roads remain broken, drains overflow, and wires hang loose. Citizens pay tolls on expressways riddled with dangerous surfaces, but there is no why and therefore not even a ‘because.’ The silence of the majority has become the greatest enabler of negligence.
Healthcare, education, and food safety expose the same neglect. India spends Rs 6.1 lakh crore on health ~ just 3.8 per cent of GDP ~ still far below global norms. Citizens shoulder heavy costs, and rural care remains fragile. Education is equally troubling: nearly half of Class 5 students in government schools cannot read a Class 2 text, while private schools surge ahead. This dual system entrenches inequality and leaves millions unprepared. Why do we allow such inequality to persist without protest? Why do rivers foam with untreated sewage, industrial discharge poison supplies, and citizens drink without protest? Food adulteration has reached even sacred institutions ~ the Tirumala ghee scam revealed millions of kilos of synthetic ghee worth Rs 250 crore.
Regulators failed, faith was betrayed, and society adjusted. Power transmission and distribution losses remain at 16-17 per cent, largely due to theft and apathy. Teachers in government schools are diverted to voter list preparation, leaving classrooms empty. Police personnel are inadequately trained, often standing idle as chaos unfolds on the roads. Citizens, instead of demanding accountability, attend Jan Darbars where officials appear more as rulers doling out favours than as service providers apologising for failures. Why do we accept this inversion of responsibility as routine?
We may walk through any market or shopping centre ~ the neglect is visible everywhere. Why should we not demand systems and infrastructure that work, delivering solutions rather than merely recording complaints and responding only when pushed? Why should officials and elected representatives cling to colonial postures, serving masters instead of providing service to the very people who vote for them? True governance must mean service for all, regardless of faith, caste, or region.
It is now the duty of educated citizens to insist on transparency, to shed the layers of distance that shield officials from the public, and to reject information tailored to please superiors when governance should be about serving the nation. Why has governance become theatre instead of service? Bureaucrats arrive with entourages, files shuffle endlessly in red tape, and senior officers avoid surprise visits ~ so the real picture of civic negligence is never seen, and accountability never enforced. Political interference keeps them under constant threat of transfer or suspension.
Instead of serving citizens, they serve masters, never obligated to answer the why of this deviation. Defiance and disrespect to authority are not genetic traits; they reflect a culture where those expected to set examples instead display arrogance, dishonesty, and disregard for rules. Bureaucrats, armed with extraordinary powers, behave like autocrats ~ insensitive to urgency or effort. Technically intensive departments are often led by officers with no expertise, sidelining qualified personnel and weakening performance. Citizens, witnessing this, learn that rules are optional, merit irrelevant, and accountability expendable.
Thus, the insensitivity of governance becomes the insensitivity of society. Here lies the deeper tragedy: indifference erodes democracy itself. When citizens stop asking questions, leaders stop answering them. Silence makes accountability disappear. Citizenship is hollowed out, reduced to casting a vote every five years while enduring failures every day. A democracy without active citizens is a shell ~ and India, aspiring to be a fully developed nation, cannot risk that. Another dimension of insensitivity is moral. When we stop asking why, we stop caring about the future.
We adjust to potholes, unsafe wiring, adulterated food, polluted rivers, and plastic waste and broken schools. We tell ourselves it is inevitable, that nothing will change. But this resignation is dangerous. It teaches the next generation that negligence is normal, that corruption is acceptable, and that mediocrity is destiny. Why should we pass on such a legacy of indifference? The moral cost of indifference is greater than the physical one ~ it is the slow erosion of hope. The way forward demands honesty and transparency in governance, discarding the colonial attitude that still lingers in grassroots administration.
Officials must shed their layers of security and distance, and instead engage directly with citizens. Service must replace servility, and accountability must replace arrogance. The system must be designed to respond on its own, not only when pushed by outrage or to answer a ‘why.’ Above all, education and meaningful skill development must be the highest priority. India’s young population is its greatest asset, but without quality schooling, uniform standards, and vocational training, they risk becoming unemployable rather than empowered.
Why do we allow this potential to be wasted? Why do we let politics overshadow the urgent need to build a disciplined, skilled, and responsible citizenry? While winning or losing elections are inherent signatures of any democracy, building a capable Nation must remain the first priority of any government. Only then can governance can serve the people rather than manipulate them. And yet, change is possible. A sensitive nation is not built by miracles, but by citizens who refuse to tolerate injustice, negligence, or indiscipline.
It is built by people who ask questions relentlessly, who demand accountability, who challenge failures at every level. Silence must give way to resolve. Indifference must be replaced by courage. Why should we accept mediocrity when excellence is within reach? Why should we adjust to corruption when honesty is the rightful expectation?
We must replace resignation with resolve. Only then can we transform from an insensitive nation into a responsible one and truly become a developed nation. As Martin Luther King Jr. aptly said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” and today asking the ‘why’ makes sense.
(The writer is a retired Air Commodore, VSM, of the Indian Air Force)