A regular tendency or practice that is hard to give up, briefly defining the term habit, invariably either draws people close to one another or drives them apart. People of different countries and also those of different regions within a country, such as in India, are not only marked by but also stereotyped on the basis of their commonly noticed and also displayed habits. The underlying reasons for creating that perception are many, but notably barrier of language and the difference in culture. For people up North in the land, all Southerners are Madrasis characterised by quaint features of their behaviour in public. For people down South, the people up there are to be viewed with suspicion. These habit-centric features of people of the two regions may have witnessed considerable change in our times compared many decades ago. In order to appreciate the fascinating mosaic of habits of Indians in different States, one has to move out of one’s normal place of residence and undertake a journey across the land, preferably a train journey.

The country’s youth are being currently called upon by public speakers of all hues to imbibe the set of habits that lead them to be ideal citizens of the country. The run-of-the-mill speakers giving out that advisory are marked by habits not matching their prescription to the land’s youth, leaving the society’s profile largely unchanged on the count of habits of its members, unedifying as they are.

Readers of dailies in the State at large are dismayed at the unabated practice of no-holds-barred mud-slinging among the leaders of different political parties as a haunting habit in the hope of winning in the ensuing poll to the State Legislative Assembly. The current scene in the nation’s Parliament, witnessing adjournment of every session for the past two weeks day after day, portrays the elected representatives of people in a manner of mirroring the people’s habit of indulging in unrewarding activities.

After years of pursuing people to give up the habit of smoking and consuming tobacco products for protecting themselves from cancer, with limited success, the government is currently in  an overdrive seeking people to take to the habit of using toilets. The mission of getting rid of open defecation seems to have witnessed good response. But, the habit of urinating in open urban spaces at will, as in Mysuru, continues to haunt the citizens in all cross sections of society. Old habits die hard and new habits cannot be changed.