When I first came to Hyderabad some 15 years ago as a school kid, this was the most striking thing about this city. There were beautiful, penguin shaped dustbins at a distance of every 200 metres AROUND the city. This was something that stayed with me till the time I came here again two years ago. Sadly, all the Dustbins had disappeared by then.
People... poor people throw things on the road because there is no other place for them to throw the litter. Indians especially, are borderline paranoid when it comes to keeping their houses squeaky clean. Why do the same people show such reversed and paradoxical traits outside of their houses is still a big looming question for me. The easiest and the most handy way for us to end this or any such discussion of national interest is with the one-sentiment-answers-all - "Oh, Indians are like that only." By emphasizing this point, aren't we too proliferating this hopeless, hapless feeling? Are we not Indians?
On a lot of deliberate thought, I could come up with the following few reasons as to why we are still waiting to live in a Cleaner India and not actually living in one :-
1. Obviously we don't care.
2. No one can MAKE us care.
3. We are the Fearless Ninjas - We are not scared of the rules because.. Well..There are no rules!
4. There is no monetary benefit. There goes!
5. Even if there were rules, we are the super creative citizens of the world who can tweak ways around them.
6. We are so many in number, who will bother singling us out when we disobey the law.
7. Will there be any authority concerned seriously enough to take action against us if we break the rules?
Now that this mini list of questions was charted, it helped me to come up with some viable answers.
1. Obviously we don't care.
2. No one can MAKE us care.
3. We are the Fearless Ninjas - We are not scared of the rules because.. Well..There are no rules!
4. There is no monetary benefit. There goes!
5. Even if there were rules, we are the super creative citizens of the world who can tweak ways around them.
6. We are so many in number, who will bother singling us out when we disobey the law.
7. Will there be any authority concerned seriously enough to take action against us if we break the rules?
Now that this mini list of questions was charted, it helped me to come up with some viable answers.
How to turn the situation around?
1. Nothing changes until we do, or until we want to. When we want to watch a movie, we take time out for it no matter how busy our schedules. In the same way, no one can Tell Us to keep our country clean. Just like we brush our teeth and take a shower every day, keeping our country clean is more about THAT becoming our habit. It has to seep deep into our subconscious.
2. How do we do step 1?
The only thing that we care about the most today is our 'Virtual' Social Network. It is the most influential, powerful and dominant medium. Probably, the most impactful way to get common people's attention today is social media. Period. Let that scream out loud about this topic. About cleanliness. Of land, water and air, just as much as it talks about cleansing the mind, body and soul.
3. Sportspeople and athletes use this very powerful technique of visualization - imagining the finer details of the outcome, so that the vision of our aim appears to be more achievable. Let us try as much as we can, to share images of how a cleaner, greener India would look. Instead of the slums and slime, when our thoughts will feed on such happy, beautiful images, subconsciously, we will want to work towards it with a whole new zest.
4. In schools, lets make cleanliness the most emphatic subject.
Schools can have a separate report card which grades students on their qualities and habits of cleanliness, neatness, proper uniform and polished shoes, grooming, and Dustbin habits. They can be taken on cleanliness and plantation drives. When kids learn, they are likely go remember it for life, and they can easily pass on this message to atleast their own family.
Schools can have a separate report card which grades students on their qualities and habits of cleanliness, neatness, proper uniform and polished shoes, grooming, and Dustbin habits. They can be taken on cleanliness and plantation drives. When kids learn, they are likely go remember it for life, and they can easily pass on this message to atleast their own family.
This way, we can make India cleaner one family at a time. That sounds easy and doable, isn't it?
4. Rewards - Something we all thrive on. Be it in words or vouchers. And these rewards can be given in schools as well as societies. Let the municipal corporation come up with awards like Neatest Home Surroundings, Most Habitable Society, Best Community Garden, Cleanest and Healthiest Society and Most Litter-Free Area. And when we monetize the rewards, everyone has secured their subscription!
5. Let the traffic police click pics of those vehicles too which zoom around littering the roads. And fine them. Have all their vehicle numbers on the challan website. Once they cross their threshold, send them a postal notice to pay their fines or face the penalties.
6. Incentivize the police too when they work for this cause. And incentivize them BIG.
7. Constantly feed cleanliness slogans and messages to people - on FM channels, social media, YouTube ads, TV ads. When it won't go out of sight, chances are it will stay in mind a little longer.
8. Everyone who can should incentivize this cause - Schools, colleges, offices, municipality, everyone. Till the time it is no longer required.
9. Parents are any child's first teachers - So parents who are teachers and teachers who are parents - Lead by Example, please. The kids emulate you, blindly. If they see you throwing toffee wrappers, empty tetra packs or plastic bottles and polythene bags out of your car's window on the roads, you will never be able to stop them from doing the same. They will just not listen to you even if you request them. Instead, you face the risk of being back-answered to. Keep a small trash bag in your car and dump all the dry litter in it. When you get down, empty it in the trash can.
Let us aim to live a life brimming with grace and elegance, not one where we try to see from the corner of our eyes if someone's watching, and then discreetly stick our chewing gum here or there.
10. And point no. 9 brings us to point no. 10. Which is "Get more Dustbins." With the kind of population we have, one can only imagine our potential to litter. Accordingly, how many dustbins we would need is simple math. And just installing dustbins won't be enough. We need proper waste management in every city. Once this is in place, we all would be coming home to a lot of cleanliness. And happiness.
So, there! See the power of intentions?
If we really put our minds and hearts to something, we can find 10 answers to 7 questions (even more, if we push a little bit harder).
We are the face of a new, modern, youthful and dynamic India. And how we live today is what we will pass on to our next generations. If we don't get up and take action today, imagine the putrid looks on our faces when our kids and grandkids would ask us - 'how dirty were you people?'
The good thing is, it is still not too late. Let us get up and start doing something about it instead of simply nodding our heads in disdain. Some small steps today will help us keep our heads high before our grandchildren years down the lane, when we will be able to look into their eyes and tell them, " it is our beautiful country which we have nurtured with lot of care and love. Take good care of it."
Signing away, with a LOT of hope...!!!
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