Gurugram wears a glittering skyline like a badge, mirrored towers, global logos, coffee bars that never sleep. Yet just beyond the glass, everyday frictions hide in plain sight: cratered roads, overflowing corners, crosswalks that fade faster than promises. On its 14th Foundation Day, PR Professionals (PRP) chose not to look away. With #IOwnGurugram, the communications firm has launched a citizen-led call to action asking residents, corporates, and communities to claim the city’s cleanliness, safety, and streets as their own. It’s a simple pivot with radical intent: act instead of complain.
Gurugram’s challenges aren’t someone else’s problem. From potholes to waste, from safety lapses to crumbling sidewalks, the city belongs to those who live and work here, and so does the responsibility of keeping it whole. Instead of treating civic flaws as fodder for complaint, the movement urges citizens to roll up their sleeves and become problem-solvers. They filled gaping potholes that had long caused accidents and bottlenecks, swept pavements near the Guru Dronacharya Metro Station, and hauled away nearly a ton of garbage. Passersby paused, then pitched in. Auto drivers, shopkeepers, and residents lent their hands, turning the clean-up into a spontaneous festival of civic pride.
The campaign’s very name carries its challenge in bold: to own Gurugram not just as an address or a workplace, but as a living, breathing home that thrives only when its people care for it.
For PRP, the act was deliberate symbolism: leadership through example. “Gurugram is not just where we work; it is our home. And just as we care for our homes, we must also care for our city,” said Dr. Sarvesh Tiwari, Founder & Managing Director, PR Professionals. CEO Sanjay Gupta and Executive Director Rahul Kashyap joined their teams shoulder-to-shoulder on the streets, reinforcing the message that civic responsibility is not hierarchical but collective. The morning’s efforts, modest in scale yet powerful in spirit, embodied the campaign’s slogan “Hum Sudhrenge, Jag Sudhrega” (“If we improve ourselves, the world will improve”).
Long before #IOwnGurugram, PR Professionals had woven social responsibility into their DNA. During the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when thousands of migrant workers were left stranded, PRP stepped in to provide food and rations to nearly 500 labourers. The firm also lobbied for hundreds of Indians stuck in Japan, ensuring their appeals reached the right channels of government. Their compassion extended further, adopting 135 children who lost their parents to the pandemic and committing to fund their education until their families regained financial footing.
By turning their Foundation Day into a day of civic service, PRP reaffirms that for them, communication is not just about crafting campaigns but about sparking action, building trust, and nurturing communities in tangible, lasting ways. The future of thriving cities lies in partnerships between citizens, corporates, and local authorities, where responsibility is distributed rather than deferred.
Globally, similar ideas have taken root. In the United States, “Adopt-a-Street” and “Adopt-a-Highway” programs empower communities and businesses to take ownership of public spaces. In parts of Europe, neighbourhood-led clean-ups have become staples of civic culture. Such initiatives prove a simple truth: when people feel a sense of belonging, they care more deeply for their surroundings.
That is where campaigns like #IOwnGurugram gain significance. They go beyond temporary clean-ups to create a form of civic branding, turning residents from passive users of a city into active custodians. By making ownership personal, these movements help transform urban spaces into genuine communities, messier, more human, but infinitely stronger.
Gurugram’s future will not be built by policymakers alone. The city’s resilience depends on its people, residents, corporations, and communities choosing to see themselves as custodians rather than bystanders. #IOwnGurugram offers a powerful reminder that civic pride is not a slogan to be repeated but a responsibility to be lived, one pothole, one clean street, one conversation at a time. What began as a Foundation Day initiative has the potential to become a blueprint for other Indian cities grappling with similar challenges. The lesson is simple yet transformative: cities improve when their people take ownership, and progress begins when ordinary citizens show up with extraordinary intent.
By: Sushrut Tewari,
A writer covering trends, innovation, and brand storytelling in India and beyond.