Well how many times have you heard people blame the government for not having cleaner roads? How many times have you blamed the government? Obviously many. But think we are also responsible for the littering. In fact, we litter and expect the government to clean it up. Remember there are people who are paid to clean the roads every day. They are dutiful, the clean the litter and their job is done. It is the course of the day that makes it look so unclean. And I don’t see why the government has to be blamed for this. Seriously you guys. Think about this we go on about other places having much cleaner roads and, not surprisingly, throw litter on the street because we are impatient to wait for the next bin to come by. Now tell me who do you blame for this?
The worst part is when a person takes the initiative. It's the worst experience if you are a beginner. But once you get used to it you feel better. The first time I started using the bin I was mocked at, blamed for “destroying the very culture of the country” and what not. It did bother me and a lot at that. But now, almost 5 years of experience, I feel better when people do that. My persistence actually made my friends take advantage of it. They dumped their garbage unto me because I pleaded them to use the bin. Lazy bums! But yeah now I feel its better, at least by doing that the garbage goes in the bin. I did do the mistake of telling it out once to get mocked at again! Indians! I don’t blame them. I don’t know who to blame. Maybe I do know I just don’t want to blame someone else for our faults!
In these 5 years the number of persons I was able to transform into an environment aware useful citizen is, not a bit shockingly, zero! That is us, Indians! We want others to do our job. And if we don’t find anyone we search for someone to blame. We don’t do our job till the very end, after testing the patience of everyone else! And if we find someone to blame we cling on to them till the end of time! For this road-unclean business the “someone else to blame” people are the government and the poor defenseless people who clean the streets. It is by all means easier to say “the government does nothing to clean the roads” or “these people who clean the roads are never doing it nice” instead of keeping that chocolate wrapper or whatever waste you have till the next bin shows up, right?
This actually happened to me. I and someone else were travelling in an auto. I wanted to take out water to drink so I gave responsibility of holding this chocolate wrapper to the other person (tough job huh?) and after I take the water out and have a drink and ask back the wrapper, boom!, its gone! The person dropped it out of the door! The best part is yet to come. There was a bin so near to the auto even I wouldn’t have missed a basket into it just a minute later!
Yeah the people who clean roads are paid. Probably they are underpaid probably they are not. But a little bit of appreciation of their work won’t hurt would it? I don’t mean go to every single person who cleans the road and appreciate just use the bin everywhere you go. They will think “look at these people! They didn’t litter the place I swept yesterday! That actually feels nice!” and you probably would have contributed in making their day. If you think they are paid why do they need appreciation for? Try this, you do all your homework and you are paid for it but you aren’t given any raise or promotion in your office. Or try this at school you get the class first after all the hard work you put in but no one says “good job!” or “nice” or something like that; you don’t have anyone to share the happiness with. Bad isn’t it? So will it be for the sweepers! Just think for a moment before you dispose of your garbage the next time if not for the environment, and later you own goodness, use the bin for at least the moral reason of it. I know this won’t make any change in most of you. But just try for once. It really feels nice!
Until next time,
Yours,
Arthi Appathurai.
