Swache Bharat or whatever....
There is nothing trivial about CLEANLINESS and HYGIENE,the cliche about being next to godliness may be just a little suspect as their cleanliness and hygiene in many cases is dependent on ordinary mortals ,who ,in our country are constrained in many ways.Non availability of such wherewithal such as water,not too muddy,a bucket to carry it.Its accessibility at a reachable distance,a place to clean up,a drain to carry it away etc.clean clothes to wear ,additional pairs to change at least once a month.A state of health, physical as well as mental to be able to understand and appreciate the need for a modicum of personal hygiene etc .Above all a provider of the most elementary necessities .
Once twice thrice in a century or periodically saints as well as sinners must launch such jihads.Accepted and granted.Nothing trivial about it. Agreed that human beings get used to things good ,bad and ugly ,over a period of time,centuries.And some one some how has to kick them out of this sloth.Kick,because vintage sloth does not shake off by a few words of saintly or not so saintly advise.Agreed subcontinents full of ignorant,illiterate,uneducated and above all uninitiated are no easy clay to work on.IT is only after nearly six decades of being perfectly used to the filth,the squalor,the stink(over a period of time the olfactory organs also succumb), a trip abroad showcased "cleanliness,sanitation ,orderliness,day to day discipline ,routine courtesy :in short the meaning of the much vaunted expression '' QUALITY OF LIFE''.
The very same species seemed to be doing this and very routinely.It took time to register that I don't want to be the odd man out by throwing the chocolate wrapper on the footpath,or by by attempting communication with nature by relieving a not so benign prostate.It is a different thing that there were bins and clean aesthetically designed relieving points ,too damn conveniently positioned..
But then those are so darn small countries ,so rich.A diaspora ,so uniformly poor,so damn vast,with the ambition to become vaster; it is not so easy to be spick and span just because a Prime Minister wants it and would take a broom and sweep a police station.A thousand ministerial and bureaucratic brooms followed.The intent great,the issue not trivial but will it help.
Governance can never be effective till the GOVERNED GOVERN THEMSELVES. PM s may come and PM s may go.Governance is 75% the governed.The 25% are the facilitators;Govt. institutions et.al.We the Indians with an apparently glorious past ,are a selfish,lethargic,indifferent lot.MIND SETS HAVE TO CHANGE.But how? May be communication is a great tool.May be some of it may get embedded in the psyche of the little kid,it is worth a try.May be the national trait ,the personality cult might help.A Mahatma did not make such an impact in his life long pursuit.It was in dying;the impact.May be the most honoured and abused human relationship in our lives,the mother can make the difference.Don't ask them to come on the streets to canvas for political parties and vested interests.Evolve an effective organisation to initiate,educate and train; the best and the worst trainer of them all;the Mother.An organisation formally from the grassroot level,nay slum level.After all the little cleaning that takes place in done by her.Be it the collection of cow dung or its imaginative use in plastering the yard.It is she who will have to stop answering the call of nature in "communion with nature" to start with.
There is nothing trivial about CLEANLINESS and HYGIENE,the cliche about being next to godliness may be just a little suspect as their cleanliness and hygiene in many cases is dependent on ordinary mortals ,who ,in our country are constrained in many ways.Non availability of such wherewithal such as water,not too muddy,a bucket to carry it.Its accessibility at a reachable distance,a place to clean up,a drain to carry it away etc.clean clothes to wear ,additional pairs to change at least once a month.A state of health, physical as well as mental to be able to understand and appreciate the need for a modicum of personal hygiene etc .Above all a provider of the most elementary necessities .
Once twice thrice in a century or periodically saints as well as sinners must launch such jihads.Accepted and granted.Nothing trivial about it. Agreed that human beings get used to things good ,bad and ugly ,over a period of time,centuries.And some one some how has to kick them out of this sloth.Kick,because vintage sloth does not shake off by a few words of saintly or not so saintly advise.Agreed subcontinents full of ignorant,illiterate,uneducated and above all uninitiated are no easy clay to work on.IT is only after nearly six decades of being perfectly used to the filth,the squalor,the stink(over a period of time the olfactory organs also succumb), a trip abroad showcased "cleanliness,sanitation ,orderliness,day to day discipline ,routine courtesy :in short the meaning of the much vaunted expression '' QUALITY OF LIFE''.
The very same species seemed to be doing this and very routinely.It took time to register that I don't want to be the odd man out by throwing the chocolate wrapper on the footpath,or by by attempting communication with nature by relieving a not so benign prostate.It is a different thing that there were bins and clean aesthetically designed relieving points ,too damn conveniently positioned..
But then those are so darn small countries ,so rich.A diaspora ,so uniformly poor,so damn vast,with the ambition to become vaster; it is not so easy to be spick and span just because a Prime Minister wants it and would take a broom and sweep a police station.A thousand ministerial and bureaucratic brooms followed.The intent great,the issue not trivial but will it help.
Governance can never be effective till the GOVERNED GOVERN THEMSELVES. PM s may come and PM s may go.Governance is 75% the governed.The 25% are the facilitators;Govt. institutions et.al.We the Indians with an apparently glorious past ,are a selfish,lethargic,indifferent lot.MIND SETS HAVE TO CHANGE.But how? May be communication is a great tool.May be some of it may get embedded in the psyche of the little kid,it is worth a try.May be the national trait ,the personality cult might help.A Mahatma did not make such an impact in his life long pursuit.It was in dying;the impact.May be the most honoured and abused human relationship in our lives,the mother can make the difference.Don't ask them to come on the streets to canvas for political parties and vested interests.Evolve an effective organisation to initiate,educate and train; the best and the worst trainer of them all;the Mother.An organisation formally from the grassroot level,nay slum level.After all the little cleaning that takes place in done by her.Be it the collection of cow dung or its imaginative use in plastering the yard.It is she who will have to stop answering the call of nature in "communion with nature" to start with.
