We, The Ugly Indian

"Saare Jahan se achcha, Hindustan Hamara

Hum bulbule hai iski, yeh Gulsita hamara".

We are gearing towards 26th January. The country is in Republic mode and you can see, experience, the twice in year- sense of patriotism all around the nook, corner and malls of the country. The best part of it is not just the Saffron, Green, and White Tricolor decor all around but the beautiful patriotic song of the folklore that is being played around, literally everywhere.

It was a usual day for me when I was leaving my house for my office and stepped out of my apartment to reach to my office. I stay in a considerably expensive locality of Mumbai [read high rental apartment] and generally travel via Autos within the city. While I was stepping out of my home, I was tuned in to this great song by legendary poet Bankim Chandra and could not stop myself from humming it aloud and in my mind.

As I closed my door and called for the lift, I could not stop looking at the stained walls of my building's passages and ladders. I shifted to this place around a year and a half back. In this entire tenure, I have only seen the stain getting stronger and public hygiene getting weaker. The space inside the lift was no good, not clean, and for the cleanliness freak me, it was not a great sight to come across all the time I take the elevator. Well, if you think I should stairs in that case, sorry but let's not get into the beautiful drawings and cleanliness at the whole series of staircases, floor by floor.

The outside world is no cleaner. The roads are laden with Garbage, literally the rotten garbage that is spilling all over and outside the huge machine-operated garbage bins. That's not the end to it, but to end your reading woes caused due to a post filled with rotten stuff on Indian Roads, buildings and, let's say, infrastructure, let me summarize it as follows:

1) Dirty streets, main roads wherein the garbage of all kind including Human excreta, animal excreta is strewn all over. If this is the condition of a well-known suburb in Mumbai, I wonder what smaller cities have to go through.

2) There is a divider between the link road near my house, and it is a "monumental" sight in the evening when the locals throw all their rotten, stinking, usual garbage proudly at the middle of the road, atop the divider. If you are inside a four-wheeler, you can cover your nose to evade some smell, but closing your eyes, especially while driving, is harmful. If you are not travelling in a closed window four-wheeler, peace be with you and your health- Physical and mental

There is no end to "litter stories" in India and no dearth to the "Indian Literatti" and then we blame Hollywood to portray India as "Slumdog" showcasing what is real rather than what is fanciful and well portrayed in our commercial potboilers, often shot at exotic locales of Swiss Alps, European Trails, Maldives and others. Even the Deserts of the UAE look more beautiful than some of our key locales in India.

Litter India Litter
So I asked a few people to complete the Lines " From Kashmir to Kanyakumari...". Here are the top responses that I got-

1. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India is one big litterbug's heaven.
2. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India has the biggest longest toilet
3. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, all Indians are one [Clap clap]
4. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Litter De India

Power of the Common Man

There is much common man today. Unlike the common man from RK Narayan's strips, so much power is available to "aam Junta". The power includes the- To spit anywhere in the country. Spit and leave behind your great oral trajectories of random, red-coded symbols made by betel leaf, paan masala, tobacco, or literally anything that you fancy in your nasty gummy delight.

Dump your garbage anywhere, including right in front of your neighbor's doors- I call it- Love thy Neigh-bour. And when you spit on roads in public, it is nothing but your deep inner love that you are showing for Mother Earth by watering its soil with your holy phlegm and mineral-enriched saliva. Ah! I can see a sapling budding on that corner of the road where you sprinkle holy water, conserved through body water harvesting. Blissful sights, aromatic trails.. India is a land of spices.

Yes, of course, we may not have freedom of speech but freedom of litter, banta hai Boss! After all, "Saare Jahan Se achcha "Litter-staan" hamara!

_____________________________________________

Have you read this pledge by the Great Indian Litterbug? Well, do click this site- greatindian.timesofindia.com to go through the pledge.

Source" Indiblogger.in
 http://greatindian.timesofindia.com/.