India had around 500 small and big Maharajahs at the time of Independence. Democracy gave us millions of Maharajahs. These modern maharajahs are no less to our erstwhile pampered class.
Today the entire educated class, the rich and the elite do behave as if they are the Kings and Queens of the cyber era. The education system is 'marks based' just as her economy is 'market based'. These people do wear modern attires and all of them speak at least a few local languages and a foreign language. They fly and live globally. Quite often talk of the tiny Singapore's cleanliness. But once these flying souls' touch down our Indian towns they would start spitting, urinating, throw the remnants of packed foods, burning cigarette buds and so on. I've not seen a shop in our towns keeping a dust bin out side their shops. As per our lofty tradition the first one to arrive would push the heap towards the adjacent shop's frontage and so on and the last one to arrive would push it on the road.
The media in India is always known for their anti-Indian attitudes as it is customary here to adhere to 'love thy enemies'. The media houses eat politics, drink cinema and breathe crime.
When the new government took over and started to chalk out a plan for a 'clean up of rivers' , people started to question the results within a week's time. Cleaning up the Ganga river, that flows for 2500 kilometers - for the last ten thousand years at least- which is a lifeline for around 400 million people ... and cleaning it in 100 days!
The educated elite in India is thinking that either the government will buy large machines from abroad and once they are made operational all the pollutants would be absorbed or some foreign nations would come and tell us not to spit or pollute our rivers and for that too we may get some incentives from the government! One of the most fiery speakers of a political party considered this as a 'trivial/platform issues', when attention was drawn to this burning issue by the honorable PM of India.
NOW OR NEVER
This is time we all change for the good. Should we ask our fellow countrymen clean up the mess we create every second? Are we having hearts in asking them to clean up the garbage? Do we ever thought paying them more if not the most? Can't we provide simple enough protective gears to fend from diseases?
We can't have two Indias- one for the advantaged and for the disadvantaged. Stop polluting public places. Vote for cleanliness and make others too to follow.
Don't stop with the simple morning pledge, ' India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage... please do show you care for the workers who keep our public places clean, you care for India and you care for this earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment