An Indian woman has caught the internet’s attention after sharing the “culture shock” she experienced while travelling in Sri Lanka. In an Instagram post, Ruth Dsouza Prabhu praised the island nation for its clean streets, courteous people, well-maintained roads and respect for public spaces, saying India has “so much to learn” from its neighbour.
“As an Indian, travelling to Sri Lanka was a culture shock for me,” she wrote in the post, before listing several observations from her week-long trip.
Ruth said that one of the first things that stood out to her was the condition of the roads. She shared that she travelled around 650-700 kilometres during her 7-day visit without encountering a single pothole. “The roads! Across our 7 day trip we drove around 650-700 kms. And not one single pothole! Not one,” she wrote, adding that she also witnessed “zero road rage” during the journey.
She recalled one incident where two vehicles got stuck on a narrow road with parked cars on one side. “When our cabbie rolled down the window, so did the guy coming the other way, we braced for abuses. Nothing! They joked, manoeuvred around each other and unblocked the road in 5 minutes. We blinked in wonder,” she wrote.
Ruth also praised the country’s respect for pedestrians, noting that motorists consistently stopped at zebra crossings to let people pass.
Another aspect that impressed her was the cleanliness of Sri Lanka’s beaches. “The beaches! Not one piece of paper, plastic around. No broken bottles to worry about. No staring at people in swimsuits, or angling for selfies with western foreigners,” she wrote.
She further highlighted the kindness of the locals, describing them as soft-spoken, helpful and deeply proud of their culture and heritage. She said that people in Sri Lanka even relied on sign language to communicate with visitors when they did not share a common language.
She also appreciated how tourist attractions and heritage sites were organised to help visitors make the most of their experience.
Concluding the post, Ruth encouraged people to focus on civic responsibility. “As a much bigger nation, just next door, these basics elude us by and large. We can learn so much. The real way to protect our cultural heritage and showcase it. Rather than wear patriotism on our sleeves and be keyboard warriors on social media, actually start by keeping our surroundings clean for starters and not expecting someone else to do it. Jeu be better,” she wrote.
In the caption, Ruth further reflected on what made the trip memorable. “Sri Lanka was an absolute revelation in cleanliness, kindness, cultural pride and living in harmony. Sure the country has been through hell and back many times over, but it’s people, are the kindest around,” she wrote.
“It’s economy struggles, yet it does not exempt anyone from being responsible citizens. And people take up their duties with no qualms. We can learn so much as a bigger neighbour next door. So so much,” she added.
Social media reactions
The post resonated with many users, several of whom shared similar experiences of visiting Sri Lanka.
One user wrote, “Can’t begin to tell you how much I relate to this. Can’t stop going back.”
“The biggest culture shock for me was that vehicles actually stopped to allow pedestrians to cross,” shared another.
“Srilanka is an epitome of cleanliness and politeness….it’s a different world altogether,” wrote a third user.
“Spot on ! Having lived in Colombo and traveled around the island there is soo much to learn from the wonderful island,” commented another.
“The cleanliness, politeness and overall tranquility are just mind blowing,” wrote one user.
