What Made a Serbian Man Swap Modelling For a Broom on Gurugram’s Streets?

On Sunday morning, while most of Gurugram was slowly waking up, a small group of people gathered near the Guru Dronacharya Metro Station. Garbage bags in hand, they bent down to pick wrappers from the pavements, cleared drains blocked with layers of waste, and swept dust from the streets.

At the centre of this effort was a Serbian man with a broom in one hand and determination in the other. His name is Lazar Jankovic, and over the past year, he has turned into an unlikely yet powerful symbol of civic action in India.

Lazar is not here for applause or headlines. He does not run an NGO, nor does he have a fund backing him. His mission is simpler, but also harder: to remind people that keeping their cities clean begins with them.

It is this belief that sparked a movement, one that Gurugram witnessed in full force last weekend.

A Sunday of change

In India, where over 62 million tonnes of waste are generated annually, much of it ends up on the streets, unsegregated and unmanaged. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 40% of plastic waste in India is littered on roads and public spaces.

Incidentally, the Gurugram cleanliness drive this Sunday was not Lazar’s idea. Local residents, inspired by his viral videos, organised it themselves and invited him to join.

“They told me there would be 20 of them ready with bags and brooms, and I thought, why not?” he recalls. Together, they unclogged drains that had been overflowing due to monsoon rains, picked up food wrappers tossed carelessly by passersby, and collected heaps of waste from the streets.

What struck Lazar most was not the amount of garbage, but how quickly things changed when people acted. “The moment I unclogged one of the drains, the water that had been flooding the road cleared within minutes. The system exists, but it cannot work if people keep throwing waste into it,” he says.

For Lazar, these clean-ups are not about doing someone else’s job. They are about sparking a shift in mindset. His message is clear: “Don’t ask me why I’m cleaning. Ask yourself, why aren’t you?”

Sharing her experience during the cleanliness drive, Mathilda from France says, “India is amazing. I love this country. But it is sad that sometimes there is a lot of garbage everywhere.”

In Lazar’s journey of making India clean, he has also taken the help of local eco-warriors like Rajbala from Gurugram, who transformed a dumpyard into a sprawling green space by planting over 800 saplings.

From championing martial arts to falling in love with butter chicken

Lazar’s journey to India began in 2018 when he arrived on a modelling contract. Back home in Serbia, he had trained in martial arts, but India offered him something unexpected. “My first dosa and my first butter chicken made me fall in love with this country,” he laughs.

Over the years, he travelled across South India — from Kerala’s backwaters to the ghats of Rishikesh — and all the way up to Sikkim. He found beauty everywhere but was disturbed by one recurring sight: litter.

“Indians keep their homes spotless, but somehow, the streets outside get ignored. It broke my heart because this is one of the most beautiful countries in the world,” he says.

After six years in Bengaluru, he moved to Gurugram in 2024 and made himself a promise: “Ek din, ek gully” (one day, one street). Since then, he has been out almost daily, cleaning wherever he goes.

The power of small actions

Lazar’s approach is rooted in simplicity. He does not preach large-scale revolutions. Instead, he asks people to start with the space right outside their homes. “If everyone kept just two metres outside their door clean, half the problem would vanish,” he insists.

He has seen this first-hand.

Areas he cleaned months ago remain tidy, not because he returns every day, but because locals began maintaining them. “That’s the real victory. If even one person changes their habits after watching me, it’s worth it,” he says.

This is also why he resists being seen as the hero of the story. When people ask to join him, he gently redirects them, saying, “Don’t follow me. Start your own initiative.”

Going viral and staying grounded

For years, Lazar quietly picked up trash wherever he went. During his six years in Bengaluru, he organised over 20 small cleanup drives. Later, as he travelled across South India and to Rishikesh for a yoga retreat, he carried this habit with him — cleaning streets with the help of a few locals.

In Delhi, he joined hands with an independent civic-tech platform called 1 Management to clean the elaborate stretch in front of India Gate. He has also collaborated with Instagram personalities, ensuring that his message of a cleaner India reaches a wider audience.

The only real change now is that he documents it.

His videos — showing him sweeping streets in slippers or pulling waste from clogged drains — have gone viral. The image of a foreigner doing what many locals ignore struck a chord online, inspiring over 100 people to join him in his drives across different cities.

But Lazar believes it is not about him. “This is not blowing up because some foreigner did it. It is because people genuinely want change. Everyone wants to live in a better India,” he says.

Still, his presence challenges assumptions. Many who see him are startled, even embarrassed. For Lazar, that discomfort is useful. “It breaks mental barriers. People think cleaning is beneath them, but when they see me doing it, they pause and reconsider. That is how change begins,” he explains.

Lazar is clear-eyed about his limitations. “Even if I spent 50 years doing this, I would only manage a few sectors of Gurugram. That’s why the real goal is to inspire others,” he says.

He dreams of more citizens joining in, of influencers and celebrities using their platforms to amplify the message. “Imagine if Virat Kohli said, ‘Let’s clean India’. His fans would follow instantly. That’s the kind of momentum we need,” he adds.

For Lazar, the mission is personal too.

He wants to meditate in the Himalayas without seeing trash, swim in Goa without worrying about plastic floating in the water, and walk down India’s streets without stepping around waste. “I just want to experience India the way it deserves to be seen — clean and beautiful,” he says.

Loving India beyond the broom

Though modelling brought him to India, Lazar is now more focused on yoga, meditation, and psychotherapy. Cleaning the streets is part of that broader philosophy of balance and care. He has even picked up Hindi, much of it from songs, films, and auto drivers who patiently corrected him.

“I am not an NGO or a government worker. I am just a person who loves India and believes in responsibility,” he says. That belief keeps him going, broom in hand, day after day.

Lazar’s mantra is simple: He does not want followers; he wants participants.

As Gurugram locals showed on Sunday, it only takes a few motivated people to spark real change. The drains cleared, the streets brightened, and for a moment, the city looked the way it could always look if only its people cared enough.

Lazar will be back on the streets tomorrow with his broom, but he hopes you will be too. Because at the end of the day, Lazar’s message is not about him. It is about all of us. And it starts just two metres from your door.

You don’t need to wait for a big movement to begin — Lazar’s journey shows that change can start right outside your door. A little effort from you and your neighbours can make your locality cleaner, safer, and even reduce issues like waterlogging during rains.

Tips to start a cleanliness drive

• Begin with friends, neighbours, or local youth groups to form a core team.
• Choose one area — like a park, street, or market — so your efforts create a visible impact.
• Inform RWAs or local authorities for support with waste collection.
• Arrange essentials, such as gloves, masks, garbage bags, brooms, and dustbins — crowdfunding can help cover costs.
• Plan regular clean-ups and awareness activities, and involve schools and shops to build long-term habits.

If you want to join his movement or start your own, you can reach him on Instagram @4cleanindia, where he documents his clean-up drives and encourages others to act.

All photos courtesy: Lazar Jankovic