Bengaluru: He came to India in 2018 for a modelling contract. Eight years later, Serbian model Lazar Jankovic has found a different way of giving back to the country he fell in love with — by picking up a garbage bag and cleaning its streets.Lazar, 33, has spent six years in Bengaluru and two in Delhi, working mainly in modelling and commercials. Travelling across more than 20 states, however, exposed him to a problem he found difficult to ignore: garbage littering the streets. “The main problem is the trash on the street. And not just the trash, but the mindset regarding it,” said Lazar, who lives in Hennur.After spending years understanding Indian culture, languages and the way people live, he started his ‘4cleanIndia’ campaign in Gurgaon in 2024. Even before that, he would carry a garbage bag and conduct small clean-ups wherever he travelled, from Rishikesh to Tamil Nadu to Sikkim.He soon realised that cleaning a spot and posting a video was not enough. He turned his efforts into social-media challenges, encouraging others to clean their neighbourhoods. The initiative has since grown into a nationwide movement, with around 1.5 lakh people interacting with his social media page and sending messages and photographs of their own clean-up drives.Lazar’s aim is not to clean every street in India, but to get people to take ownership of the spaces around them. “It’s about locals protecting their own thing,” he said.In Bengaluru, he has cleaned around 10 spots, including Jayanagar, JP Nagar, Church Street and areas around Cubbon Park. About five have been documented through videos, while he continues smaller drives with local residents.His strategy is to identify spots with a strong community and involve the residents. In Gurgaon’s Sector 55, for instance, residents formed WhatsApp groups and began monitoring areas after seeing Lazar clean their streets. “They saw a foreigner cleaning their streets and felt ashamed,” he said.A similar response followed a recent drive near BDS Garden in Bengaluru. Garbage had accumulated again despite an earlier clean-up and warning posters. After Lazar cleaned the spot and posted a video clip, residents began taking responsibility for it. He said the area has remained clean for a month and a half since.“I tell people ‘namma ooru, namma javabdari’ — it’s our city, so we need to protect it,” he said.
Lazar’s solution is simple: every household and shop should take responsibility for about two metres outside its premises
Thinking beyond 4 wallsLazar believes the problem is partly the result of how people view public spaces. Indians, he feels, are particular about keeping their homes clean but often do not extend that responsibility beyond their “chaar deewar” (four walls of their homes). “If my house is clean, if my things are sorted, then everything else is fine,” he said. “But if we take that psychology just a little bit outside to the streets, everything can change.”His solution is simple: every household and shop should take responsibility for about two metres outside its premises. “Imagine if this happens as a nationwide movement where everyone, every Sunday, goes outside and cleans this much. Half the problem is gone,” he said.Lazar also believes cleanliness campaigns need less “gyaan” and more emotion. “India runs on chai and emotion,” he said, arguing that lectures about saving the planet or cleanliness are unlikely to change behaviour. “Nobody cares,” he said, adding that celebrities and other influential figures should instead make cleanliness a trend through music and videos. His philosophy is to make it “fun”, “dance-worthy” and entertaining rather than another lecture on civic responsibility.Lazar is also seeking govt participation. He has been in touch with the office of Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad about a larger clean-up initiative in the constituency and hopes to collaborate with govt representatives.
