MAKING INDIA BETTER

 Someone has truly said, “A clean person is not the one that runs away from dirt but one who takes time and effort to tidy-up a dirty environment.” One of the various reasons because which our mother scolds us is our messy rooms. A crumpled paper or an empty wrapper lying on floor means an hour long chiding. Have you ever wondered why? Why does it set off old people if they see even a peck of dirt in our houses? The answer is quite simple, actually. They do so because everybody likes their home to be healthy and hygienic; free from germs and diseases. This answer may satisfy many, but the inquisitive ones like me would certainly question, “Then why, do we see garbage at every street we walk through? Why do we see road dividers covered with red colored spit marks of tobacco? If we can’t tolerate someone littering our own houses then why do we walk casually and pretend nothing happened when we notice someone dirtying the streets!” Do we do it because the dirt isn’t in our houses? What is Earth but a huge home gifted to us by God? A home that provides shelter to millions of species! Then why do we litter our only home so thoughtlessly? Have we ever stopped in our lives and considered the various adverse effects of non-hygienic surroundings? According to the World Health Organization one fourth of the world’s deaths are caused by unhealthy environments. Older people always say children mean more than anything to them, is this the kind of world they are handing over to us? Unclean environment is a key factor for diseases like diarrhea, typhoid, dengue and malaria. Seventy three years ago our fore-fathers shed their blood and sweat to gain independence for us, to see an India of their dreams. Is this the kind of nation they imagined? It’s shameful for me to write that presently India is the seventeenth most polluted nation among the 195 countries that exist presently. Ever since we were born, we have drawn pictures of a pastoral and immaculate India only in our minds, why can’t we work together to make it a reality for all? To be honest, it isn’t just the roads or streets that are unclean. People’s mind contain dirt as well. Mahatma Gandhi once said and I quote, ““I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” Even if a citizen is responsible enough to care for his environment and tries to amend the mistakes made by us, people’s remarks don’t allow him to do so. Comments like “Are you from the municipal corporation?” or “Why are you cleaning this waste? India will remain India.” are sufficient to extinguish the flame of sagaciousness is an individual. If each one of us thinks rationally we would understand the urgency of the situation and would act accordingly. Some measures which can be taken to promote a healthy and clean environment include promotion of safe household water storage, sanitation, use of cleaner, safer fuels, more judicious use and management of toxic substances in the home and workplace, recycling of items, better waste disposal (green dustbin for biodegradable substances and blue dustbin for non-biodegradable substances)

We don’t have to take huge steps to make a change. Greta Thunberg says, “No one is too small to make a difference. Everyone can do something. If everyone did something, huge differences can happen.”

Let’s join hands to make our country not only developed but clean and green as well. Let’s revive the old beauty of Mother Earth, together.