Towards Swachh Bharat - Of Doggy Potty and Cow Dung Vigilantism
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 ...