As I set about to write this time piece on Swachh Bharat - the flavour of the season - it is 2nd October 2017, now linked to the PM's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. In a small way I have in my personal and official capacity done a little bit for the most pressing need of our times.
My morning walk in a well-laid out colony is peppered with two distinct smells. One is doggy potty, that is littered along the edges of the pucca roads and the other is parched cow dung. Why my colony alone, you find the two on all roads in cities and towns. Cows left to roam and ruminate all night leave the residues of their attendance in the form of an evaporating stench of urine and cow dung residue left stuck to the road after it has been wiped off by poor women living in nearby slums.
As someone born in a Hindu family, cow has been more than sacred. We have always been told of the purifying nature of cow dung and urine. I do not doubt the scientific or religious basis of that philosophy. In fact, when I landed in China nine years ago for a training program, in response to food preferences asked for by our generous hosts, I remember having written NO BEEF in bold capitals. But is cow dung sacrosanct? Does it not breed infectious germs? Though it is dangerous to raise such questions at this point of time in India, I am irritated by doggy potty and cow dung as I try to ensure I keep a watchful eye on the roads I walk every morning.
The government has nothing to do with this. This is a matter in the hands of the common man. People like me, who own cows and dogs are littering the streets. We have already seen that our municipalities have lost all control over even their routine tasks of garbage collection. So it would be too much to expect them to clean up the shit.
On the Mahatma's birth anniversary, I appeal to the elite dog owners and the not-so-elite cow owners to spare the environment and help make India open defecation free.
My morning walk in a well-laid out colony is peppered with two distinct smells. One is doggy potty, that is littered along the edges of the pucca roads and the other is parched cow dung. Why my colony alone, you find the two on all roads in cities and towns. Cows left to roam and ruminate all night leave the residues of their attendance in the form of an evaporating stench of urine and cow dung residue left stuck to the road after it has been wiped off by poor women living in nearby slums.
As someone born in a Hindu family, cow has been more than sacred. We have always been told of the purifying nature of cow dung and urine. I do not doubt the scientific or religious basis of that philosophy. In fact, when I landed in China nine years ago for a training program, in response to food preferences asked for by our generous hosts, I remember having written NO BEEF in bold capitals. But is cow dung sacrosanct? Does it not breed infectious germs? Though it is dangerous to raise such questions at this point of time in India, I am irritated by doggy potty and cow dung as I try to ensure I keep a watchful eye on the roads I walk every morning.
The government has nothing to do with this. This is a matter in the hands of the common man. People like me, who own cows and dogs are littering the streets. We have already seen that our municipalities have lost all control over even their routine tasks of garbage collection. So it would be too much to expect them to clean up the shit.
On the Mahatma's birth anniversary, I appeal to the elite dog owners and the not-so-elite cow owners to spare the environment and help make India open defecation free.
