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Wednesday 18 March 2015

New campaigns; the same old habits


Image Courtesy: Charuhas Acharya @ A glimpse of Paradise

It is easy to talk about change, but habits aren’t easy to kill. This picture was taken on 27/2/2015; five months after the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. People still litter; the civic authorities continue to ignore the garbage. 

Maybe this pile will attract someone’s attention, and then a wave of cleanliness will begin. A local celebrity will sweep it, and expect people to follow. People will definitely follow- on Facebook, on Twitter, on every other social media- not in real life. Sadly, these waves are limited to virtual life.

The civic authorities do include the local elected politicians. However, these people are a class in itself. They preach cleanliness, even take up brooms, but don’t do any follow up. Still, there is no penalty strictly imposed on those who litter the streets. The cleanliness truck passes the same littered street every morning, but fails to classify the trash as garbage to be disposed. We are still a long way from Swachh Bharat.

India continues as it always did. Everyone is either in a race or living their life; no time for a sense of duty or a change. The only change most people carry is spare coins for the auto wallah or the bus conductor.

Related article: Swachh Bharat, littered streets, and the missing trash cans.


13 comments:

  1. True Kiran.
    When the campaign started, everyone joined in for photo opportunity!
    Now, forgotten!
    Old habits die hard...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Anita.
      Old habits indeed die hard. :(

      Delete
  2. You are right. We can follow trends only on social media. We need real change, not just status updates.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sadly true. we need to grow up in real life, and change ourselves.
      Thanks Saru.

      Delete
  3. You are right, Kiran. People have become slave of their wrong habits.Liked the sarcasm of demanding change from auto wallah or the bus conductor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ravish. We'll have to develop some new habits.

      Delete
  4. Yes Kiran, we need proper garbage disposal systems to solve these issues besides creating the buzz on media and social media.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I second your thought. garbage disposal systems are badly needed.
      Thanks a lot.

      Delete
  5. This country needs to be jolted out of its bad habits!
    Great pointer here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, it's the need of the day. Thanks indrani.

      Delete
  6. Very sad... I have a happy news to share with you :) The place where we are shifted to, is adjacent to three empty sites and all of them were full of trash thrown by the people in the apartments nearby. I was looking at them sadly everyday unable to do anything. I have dust allergy that makes me suffer day and night if I try to dust even a bed. Almost two weeks ago, our building owner and shops nearby had got a site cleaned by Safaiwalas. And another site owner has got it cleaned as he is planning to sell it. Another site is yet to get a new look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, Sindhu. that's great news. It's heartening to see that some people do strive for real change. Hope everyone takes their example.
      Thanks Sindhu for sharing.

      Delete
  7. Thanks Linda. Happy to connect.

    ReplyDelete

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