Let me start this without sugarcoating anything.

The words Citizens and Society have become one big, ugly joke.

They sound great in news debates, police speeches, apartment group messages and “my family is very decent” conversations. But in reality? Across places, these words are just tools. Tools to control, shame, silence, and judge.

And before anyone gets uncomfortable, good. That’s the point.

When I was a teenager, I’d go to a friend’s house after school. We’d roam around the lanes, then sit on that typical cement platform stuck outside a building. You know the ones, half-bench, half-wall, found in every colony from our villages to cities..

We’d just sit. Talk. Laugh. Exist.

No alcohol. No drugs. No nuisance. Just dumb teenage conversations about cricket, girls, movies, future dreams that probably meant nothing.

One evening, a police constable rides in on his bike like he’s in a movie scene. Parks right in front of us. Starts shouting as if we were running a crime racket.

“EEEM CHESTHUNNAR RA IKKADA? Ekkada nunchi vacharu? Immediate ga vellipondi!”

No respect. No explanation. No basic humanity. Just volume and power.

At that age, I was confused.

Later, I realised: some “responsible citizen” must’ve complained.

That’s our society.
 Uncles who spit paan everywhere but get offended by boys sitting and talking.
 Aunties who gossip whole day but will say, “Pillalu sarigga leru ippudu.”

According to them:

  • Laughing = bad character

  • Sitting = suspicious

  • Friendship = distraction

  • Freedom = western culture

  • Mind your own business = disrespectful

Then the same people sit in front of TV when a rape case comes and shout,
 “Ee society ela tayaar aindi ra babu!”

ARE YOU MAD?

Who is society? Mars valla? Aliens valla?

You, your neighbour, your cousin, that uncle who comments on every girl’s clothes, that auto driver who stares without blinking, that “family friend” who gets too close during functions — all of you ARE society.

Stop acting like you’re spectators.

You are the system you’re complaining about.

In Hyderabad, especially, the hypocrisy is cinematic level.

You step out at 12 AM because you can’t sleep.

You’re stressed. You want Irani chai at Charminar or DLF. Maybe you’re coming back from a night shift in Hi-tech City or Gachibowli. Maybe your mind is just too heavy to stay inside four walls.

Suddenly a police vehicle stops you.

“Endhi urike tirugutunnava? Drugs ah? Ammayilu ah? Ekkadiki?”

From freedom to suspect in 10 seconds.

But the next day, same police will be standing in front of media with a mic:

“We are committed to the safety of all citizens.”

Which citizens, bro?

The ones who look rich?

The ones who speak good English?

The ones who belong to a certain religion, caste, area, or background?

Because clearly not the ones who are just trying to survive life quietly at night.

In Hyderabad, we have the biggest contradiction:

On one side:

  • Global city

  • IT Hub

  • Metro rails

  • International restaurants

  • Nightlife posters everywhere

On the other side:

  • Moral policing

  • Judgment

  • Character certificates handed out by random people

  • “What will society think?”

Society doesn’t even pay my bills but somehow it controls my timings, clothes, friendships and peace.

And the funniest part?

The same people who shout “save our culture” are the ones secretly watching the most toxic, violent, dirty content on their phones at night.

But God forbid someone just sits on a bench and talks.

Maybe the real danger to society isn’t crime.

Maybe it’s awareness.

Because the moment someone starts thinking for themselves, moving differently, not following the unwritten rules of city lanes to village households – that’s when they become “the problem”.

So no, citizens are not the joke.

The real joke is a so-called society that is built on fear, hypocrisy and fake respect.

And we’re just supposed to clap along and call it “culture”.