The Residents Of A Colossal Dustbin

Bits of paper, bits of paper, falling down, falling down, make the place untidy, make the place untidy…. PICK THEM UP, PICK THEM UP! I remember this particular nursery rhyme very well as we all tiny tots used to literally do the actions corresponding to each word of the poem. After schooling, I thought I was a grown up and didn’t need to practice that poem anyway so I conveniently forgot the latter part of the poem and then what happened was that the whole nation was flooded with crap.!

How can I make my home the best place to live, with the best architecture, with the cleanest floors and corners and the most impressive aroma? I don’t know how others ( of foreign nations) think about the same, but I know for a very good reason how my country people would react to such a question or what would be their side of the solution (which actually has just one side!). WE The People, believe that our duty to clean our surroundings and maintain the sense of hygiene is only obligated to the extent of the property we own ( the four walls of our house).

However, the whole concept is an illusion. We take no interest in going beyond those four walls. Health and hygiene are the most critical aspects of our society which have disoriented objectives as well as implementation, not due to flaws in our health related policies but due to the mentality of the common-man. 

In the next 12 years, South Asia — and “mainly India” — will be the fastest growing region for waste generation, says a paper published(Oct 31-2013)Nature. 

With India becoming the most populous country in the world before 2030 and its projected economic growth rate, “it is likely only a matter of time before India is the world’s largest municipal solid waste generator,” Daniel Hoornweg, lead author and associate professor of energy systems at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Canada, told this Correspondent.

Now there are two aspects I am going to throw light upon. One is the ill health of the society due to basic irresponsible behavior of the people as well as due the the cleanliness related mentality of our society which also reflects itself in various other sectors that produce and only produce waste without recycling or maintaining it. The mentality I am talking about here is related to civic sense which is absent in almost all of us. Starting from the very rural areas till the urban areas all do the same mistakes and suffer the same problems. In the wake of industrialization and globalization we have completely forgotten what we have left is a mammoth pile of Municipal Corporation Waste; commonly known as Garbage.

Diseases like malaria, dengue, contagious ones like tuberculosis, bacterial and viral infections like diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, meningitis and many many more are a common sight in the our vulnerable society. Then for making the conditions worse, we do not make any amendments in our own behavior. Why is it so hard to throw the trash in trash can? How hard is it to not spit around the corners of a wall? Ironically you would definitely find the walls in the most disgusting state decorated like a huge spray painting of spit, where especially someone has written in big letters “Yahaan Thookna Manaa Hai” ! Why do people defecate on road or railway tracks? Are we of some kind of unbelievably obnoxious species which thrive on garbage?

We have a plethora excuses to give. ‘ There are no dustbins in our area, the municipal van is so flooded with garbage that there’s no room for even a single trash bag, not us but our neighbors are extremely unhygienic, our government is bad and there are no good laws, our surroundings are clean so why shall we bother about other areas…’ Unity in diversity, is indeed true (at least in this case). We all are unitedly polluting our nation in our different exclusive ways and this scenario, mind you, is all pervasive in our country. We practically live in the trash can!

Beneath the gaga of festivals and occasions, we reach the insane heights of manifesting all sorts of things which accumulate to form nothing but trash. Marigold flowers and rose petals stuck around broken coconut shells and clay lamps are thrown( decent people call it submerged) into ponds, lakes, rivers and all possible water bodies so as to relieve the people from their bad luck and all the wrongs things they would have done; I’m guessing HOW?! Other uneventful sight is seeing people behaving like fanatics to overload milk, oil and some times food on the God statues in different temples. These people pray to God and think that some miracle will happen, like God coming out of the statue with many hands and a halo behind His head (like in Bollywood movies).

Hypothetically, if we assume that this would occur, then I can only think of God screaming and yelling at those people (probably beating them with all His hands) to soak Him in such gross atmosphere! Ganpati Visarjan or other such submersion is of immense chaos and confusion and an ever-expanding pollution. Pollution of water bodies, land, noise and every damn thing under the sun ‘ just in the name of God’ (which reminds me of our status not more than that of a beggar). We are socialites only on the outside. At the heart, we are the proud Junglis ( animals).

I my view the problem lies deep inside our own selves. We never gave a second thought to what is happening around us. The pollution or the exceeding levels of garbage in our country are not just the product of a poorly structured and efficiently mismanaged law and order; but also the major effect of polluted thoughts. Old traditions and customs are so passe now, but still are becoming followed blindly. Loss of civic responsibility plays the role of ignition to the fire of devastation. Our country is our home, and so we must keep it clean; not to flaunt but to get the clarity of thought, expression and peace. We are all connected to each other and trust me if something happens to a country, it takes with it, all of its citizen down too. So, what we do will absolutely make a big difference. Start off simple , to create the big picture.