‘Welcome back to reality’: Viral Reddit post on return to India sparks debate on civic sense and infrastructure

A Reddit post describing a returning traveller’s “instant India reality check” has struck a chord with thousands online. Shared by user Imsongoku7, the anecdotal account highlights the stark contrast many Indians feel when coming back home after a trip abroad — especially when it comes to civic behaviour, infrastructure and everyday interactions.

‘Within one hour… scam attempt, gutka spit, and a sprained ankle’

The user wrote that he had just returned from an 8–9 day foreign trip and was still enjoying the memory of clean roads, organised traffic and basic civic discipline he experienced overseas. The moment he landed in Mumbai and took a connecting flight to Nagpur, he sensed the shift.

He first encountered an inflated fare: “One guy near the stand asked ₹500 just to drop me till Lokmat Square. I just stared and said, ‘Bro, I’m also from here.’”

He then booked an Ola and reached Lokmat Square — only to notice the auto driver chewing gutka and spitting repeatedly on the road.

But the worst was yet to come.

While walking with a heavy bag on an uneven footpath, he sprained his ankle. Moments later, an auto driver driving past spat gutka that landed directly on his shoe.

“That was it. Full ‘welcome back to reality’ moment.

Within one hour — scam attempt, gutka spitting, sprain, and gutka on shoe.”

He summed up the experience with a tone of resigned humour:

“Not even angry at this point, just laughing at how brutally fast the transition was.”

Internet... too relatable?

The post quickly went viral, with many users agreeing that coming back to India can be a jarring switch — particularly with public hygiene, road safety and traffic discipline.

Several comments echoed similar frustrations:

“Make peace with it. its not worth the effort to burn your energy thinking about it or trying to change. just make sure your own behaviour is upto your standards. you cant change lame ass people, they deserve what they get,” a user advised.

“There is one thing being optimistic and one thing being blindly optimistic, whatever happens doesn't make us go up. Actually there are more examples of going down than going up if you observe current scenarios and count.

And I live in this country, I always wish well for the future only. But no stats right now are supporting it.” another user wrote.

“Civic sense is a foreign concept," the third user wrote.

Others said the account highlights why basic urban behaviour should be treated as seriously as policy changes.