I took the glass from the shopkeeper with ecstatic joy and the puffy yellow mango shake smelt like a drink from heaven. It was a Friday evening and I had nothing much to do this weekend. I wanted to enjoy my drink and therefore I was sipping it very slowly. I would pull the drink up and then push it down through the straw, thereby creating bubbles. And then I was watching them burst. I was enjoying my life, just then I heard a strange sound. Something had fallen down from a height and I glanced from one end of the street to another, but in vain. Something had fallen I was sure and I was curious to know what it was.
"Don't worry Sir, its just a packet", the juicewala pointed out noticing my curious eyes. "What packet !", I exclaimed. "Sardarji on the third floor throws this trash packet and litters the street every single day", he replied. I looked up to the third floor to have a glimpse of the divine being. There he was, with a red turban and a clean white shirt. He was holding a glass in his hand and with no guilt on his face, was smiling at us.
I quickly moved out of that place with some puzzled thoughts. Like why he was smiling, why he was happy about the incident and why he did it in the first place. Maybe, his throw was not perfect and having thrown the garbage packet just beside me he missed his previous target. But he should have been sad having missed the target. With these unusual thoughts, I moved towards my home.
I don't know why but I started observing some incidents as I walked. These differed from the norm, the accepted standards of the society. I saw:
- A well dressed man in his forties was ambulating with his pet. It was a small little dog ( a 'pug') roaming with his owner, smelling all the cycles, bikes and cars on his way in order to relieve itself. A number of such dogs had created havoc on the road in the previous days.
- A small eatery shop filled with several people, had thrown all the waste products like food, paper, water, sauce, etc right onto the road.
- A barber was continuously wiping out all the bits and pieces of his customers' hairs on the road.
- Some miscellaneous items like 'chappals', clothes, shoes were thrown in the middle of the road.
- People were relieving themselves on the walls of a government owned land, right below the warning 'Trespassers will be prosecuted'. People chose not to trespass, but to take the revenge right on the entrance gate.
- The base of a 'Peepal' tree was occupied with broken idols of God Ganesha, Goddess Laxmi and others.
All these incidents were not a single incident, they were a trend. These trends once set by individuals, have been followed sheepishly. But the real question is can we stop them from taking place. The answer is Yes. I too should have disapproved of Sardarji's act, but I did not do it. I should have taken the responsibility of making him aware about the repulsive consequences of his act.
On the morning of every Republic Day and Independence Day when we are watching national programs on Doordarshan, the small little feeling that we have while listening to the national anthem is something I wish that could stay with me forever. While throwing garbage, urinating in public, giving a bribe, taking a bribe or wasting natural resources, we should always be conscious of that small little feeling we had while singing our national anthem. This can be our modern way of nationalism.
I happened to meet Sardarji again, but this time in a metro. He was about to throw his chocolate wrapper, when I drew his attention towards the logo of my bag displaying Swacch Bharat Abhiyan. He acted as if he was actually going to keep the wrapper in his bag itself. This time I smiled...
