Red graffiti and a call for civic responsibility

“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” Margaret J. Wheatley The city I live in woke up one February morning to a disturbing sight. The air was nippy, with winter still lingering around the corner. As I set out on my twelve-kilometre journey to college, I couldn’t ignore the blatant defacement that had marred the city’s walls. They had been ruthlessly spray-painted in red with a singular, cryptic message: “AAPKA APNA, J—- K—–“, nothing more, nothing less. The words left me puzzled as I kept wondering about the identity of this person. Was he a journalist, an actor, a celebrity or a local gangster? I had no clue. The timing seemed off for political manoeuvres, with elections still a distant event.  As I navigated through the city roads, I realized that every available space on the walls was blighted with the same words. On my way back home, I took a detour and to my utter disbelief, the walls of these roads not only bore the stains of the red words but also posters flaunting a smiling visage of the person whose name had been spray painted. A few days later, I...