With out-size arrogance to match, law breakers are unmindful of basic ethics.I was wandering along a shady lane (not lonely as a cloud but rather aimlessly) when all at once a notice caught my attention. It was nailed to the trunk of a large, spreading tree. It read: I give you oxygen. Please protect me. The appeal smote my heart.

Felling of trees, especially big, beautiful ones that have taken decades to reach that size, is done with impunity, without a thought of the cruelty inflicted on nature. I kicked a stone viciously to rid the feeling of frustration that engulfed me.

Broodingly, I continued my walk and a very short distance ahead, came across the stump of a tree. Evidently, the tree had been cut recently. From the rings that were visible and the girth of the trunk, it wasn’t difficult to surmise that the tree had been a very old one. I rued the irony. It was enough to embitter even the most optimistic soul.

Another time, I was passing a building surrounded by a high stone wall with the obvious intention of keeping out miscreants. In big, bold letters that could not fail to catch the eye was the request, ‘please don’t throw garbage here.’ And just beneath the sign was a heap of rubbish of every kind, size and description. Such blatant flouting left me aghast though it is very common. All I could do was champ and chafe.

With more and more vehicles on the road, parking has become an acute problem. Very often, cars and two wheelers are parked where there is a conspicuous ‘no parking’ sign. Even in a ‘silent zone,’ insensitive honk  loudly and continuously. Flagrant disobedience of traffic rules are apparent at signals. Overtaking from the wrong side is usual as is racing even after the light turns red.

There is a pretty little garden I know of where people can walk while enjoying a visual treat of colourful flowers. As they are seasonal, there are beautiful blooms all round the year. There are boards requesting people not to pluck the flowers, not that it makes any difference to people who help themselves to the flowers as if they are entitled to them.

It isn’t as if these law breakers are ignorant or uneducated or poor. Some of them are clad in trendy sportswear and carry the latest smart phones. With out-size egos and arrogance to match, they are unmindful of elementary ethics. Is the DNA to be blamed or the genetic disposition held responsible?