All For A Clean India

Today morning I woke up to an SMS from the Indian Bank, urging me not to litter and to pass on the message to at least 10 other people. Mr. Modi is apparently in mission mode to clean up India. Ministers were asked to devote an hour today to focus on issues of cleanliness and various government departments have been ordered to create awareness. As I drove past Churchgate the IT Offices sported Swachh Bharat banners. The idea is that the nation honours the Mahatma on his 150 th birth anniversary in 2019 with a clean India. Trust a Virgo PM to wish to give a gift of cleanliness. And I am one Virgo gal whose glad to do my share. I can honestly say I didn’t litter today.

In 2006-2007,I had occasion to interact with a bunch of Koreans, who had been sent over to look after their chaebol’s investment in India. I was struck by their frequent comments on the lack of cleanliness, dirt, poor hygiene,a lack of toilets, the heat and the diarrhoea Indian food was giving them. Definitely they had use reason to complain but then I didn’t see any attempt on their part to adjust to thrive in the local environs either. Then there was my sister’s penpal Mattie,from Austria. My whole family was astonished to see him stuff sweet wrappers, used face tissues etc. into his backpack. No, this was not only while he was outdoors but even inside our home. Apparently his countrymen take keeping the Alps clean pretty seriously and literally take all their rubbish back home for disposal. We Indians need not cart rubbish all the way home,but we definitely can keep hold of it till we find a bin. Lastly, while waiting in Satwa Bus Station, Dubai, for a late night bus to depart, I saw two Filipino cleaners scrubbing away pan stains from the bus shelters. Satwa is frequented by people from the Subcontinent and they chew pan and spit just as they do back home. Obviously the Emiratis take cleanliness and hospitality seriously. Hence all this silent cleaning. Ought we not to be ashamed of being poorly behaved guests? How many foreigners and opportunities to collaborate are we losing because of our tolerance for dirt?

Cleaning supplies companies have been quick to sense an opportunity in this government sponsored attempt to promote cleanliness.HUL and Reckitt Benckiser have large awareness campaigns in place. But you and I need not be far behind. Just check out the Clean India Journal for ideas on making money from waste.