===============================================================================================================================================================================
On 15 th August 2014, from the ramparts of Red Fort, a thundering voice resonated across India. The occasion was auspicious and the man was none other than our Prime Minister on whom our electorate had reposed faith. Far from waxing eloquent he held a mirror up to our society! Questions, which all of us would prefer to sweep under the carpet were thrown at us. It was unprecedented.
After all, on a day when our national pride runs non-stop and super-fast across our veins, who would like to be remembered about the fact that we are a nation with more cell phones than toilets, a nation where open defecation persist even after 67 years of independence and a nation which has disinherited the virtue of cleanliness held high by the father of the nation!
Expecting nothing more than rhetoric about our nation’s GDP and its intolerance to terrorism, my friends and I were staggered by the confessions from the one who was at the helm of affairs. The speaker was composed, his voice was clear and it revealed a sense of purpose. The Angry-Young-Frustrated Indians that we were, told ourselves that at last here is a man who calls a spade a spade! He has issued the much needed clarion call at last. The million dollar question is: Are we ready for transforming India into a Clean India?
The best way to solve a problem is to identifying it first, i.e. its magnitude and laying out a systematic plan of action based on that understanding. Let’s admit it that India is Dirty-literally and figuratively. The tougher task lies in assessing the enormousness of this dirt. It is a given that filth is omnipresent in India but undeniable that the magnitude of filth generated multiplies in Indian Cities.
As the globalisation juggernaut rolls on dissolving the barriers between nations and within them, Cities are witnessing unprecedented growth. Not to be left out, the starry eyed villager aspiring for a better quality of life packs his bags and becomes a migrant overnight. Since many such unlucky souls have no control over their destinies many end jobless and merges either into the slums or end up on the pavements. This Migration phenomenon inevitably ends up increasing the density of Indian cities. This has a Domino Effect affecting everything in its wake.
Water is the elixir of life but many parts of the city have fleeting water supply and worse still there are places within cities devoid of it. The dilapidated water supply throws spanner into the sewerage system rendering public toilets useless. Since slums proliferate spontaneously, they will always be outside the purview of the planned sewerage system. This would discourage the use of community toilets and encourage the practise of open defecation.Other acquired habits such as not washing hands before eating, not using soap after defecation to clean hands etc. follows in its wake. Slums later become reservoirs of epidemics which slowly spread into the larger city space carried by infectious agents.
Almost all the cities in India have an incomplete drainage system. Incomplete since they are always a work in progress. This piecemeal system comes to the fore when monsoon visits us annually. Like clockwork, the drainage system fails. With nowhere to escape, excess runoff settles on roads bringing traffic to a standstill. This lack of preparedness throws a spanner into the normal lives of common folks.
Adding another dimension to this overflowing cup of woes of the cities is the indifference to the scientific waste management system. Factories flout effluent norms and pollute rivers and lakes. The cultural extravaganzas in the name of devotion leave rivers contaminated. Segregation of daily waste generated at home into organic, hazardous and plastic is rarely followed. Dumping wastes by the wayside has become our national pastime.
Keeping our homes clean has become our priority and cleaning the streets have been relegated to the “not-my–problem-zone”. Littering is done by choice and without a worry in the world. The initial disgust on our face when encountered by filth disappears once we get accustomed to the stink. The litter graduates into dust heaps and dust heaps into a dumping grounds converting a locality into a no go zone where under the cover of darkness anti-social elements thrive. We pass the buck to the authorities and they point their fingers at another direction continuing the blame game. This practice persist because we don’t even have an iota of civic sense. Prime Minister through his rousing speech was trying to put some Civic Sense into our heads on 24th August.
The solution lies not in buying a posh flat and cocooning oneself within gated colonies. That would tantamount to cowardice. “Be the Change you want to see”. Complaints can easily turn into rants, rants becomes tirades overtime reducing the whole affair into mudslinging. The trick lies in gradually overpowering our passions, turning it into reasoning and speaking out loud.
Don’t be a silent spectator! Speak out!! The campaign for transforming our citizenry from being passive onlookers to active participants in building a Clean India is being spearheaded by Strepsils through the #AbMontuBolega Campaign. If you need to put your thoughts across you should ooze confidence and convey them in the right tone without being overbearing like our Prime Minister. Strepsils can be of great help to fight bacterial and viral throat infections if you have any trouble related to voice. Draw confidence from within and Strepsils will help you express fully.
Part ways with your silence. Make some noise guys. After all are we not the largest democracy? Don’t we have more than 20 official languages? So start asking sensible questions! Discuss ways to make India clean through #AbMontuBolega with Montu. Ask why on earth the state can’t stop the proliferation of slums! Ask why the state can’t still provide affordable housing for the downtrodden! Ask about the status of the funds allotted for the sanitation facilities for the poor! Ask why is it that piped water is still a distant dream for many homes even in cities! Ask why Ganga is still polluted despite spending a fortune on cleaning it! Ask why Indian Railways is still the world’s largest open toilet and why have they not installed Bio Toilets yet! And finally, Ask yourselves: what have you done to make India clean. Silence is not an option anymore! So have Strepsils and speak up to make India clean by 2019 to ensure that we give the most fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary!
======================================================================================================================================
This blog post is my entry for the Happy Hours Campaign #AbMontuBolega Campaign conducted by “IndiBlogger” in association with “Strepsils”. For more details please visit: http://www.abmontubolega.com/
======================================================================================================================================
Image Courtsey:
www.indiatvnews.com (Narendra Modi. 1st image)
www.hindustantimes.com (Mega Toxicities. 2nd image)
www.tribuneindia.com (Water Shortage. 3rd image)
www.brainbuxa.com (Waste Management. 4th image)
http://www.abmontubolega.com/ (#AbMontuBolega Campaign 5th image)
http://www.govtjobsnaukri.com/(Swatch Bharath Campaign Logo. 6th image)
===========================================================================================================================
Gangs Of Edathua! 
Feel Free To Express Your Opinion