This blog post is about two movies, a show telecasting its new season’s first episode on Sunday, (October 05, 2014) a Prime Minister and an incident that happened a week ago.
Before referring to the above stated references I wanted the readers to look around them, on the streets, in the bus, marketplace and their home. What you see? Or at least think and try to recall what you have seen?
I mostly see the profound memories of roads full of garbage especially where it is strictly prohibited, garbage mostly outside the garbage bin. No road is ever clean in India, but on the other hand my home is home sweet home– so clean and hygienic that you can eat off the floor and outside is such that sometimes you cannot even breathe on the road.
Now going back to the incident I was talking about in the beginning but before that let us ponder on the biggest solution that has always been discussed by almost all in the entire of India –education. Education is regarded as one such tool that can bring change in this country as the educated are regarded to be a superior class. Unfortunately the reality is different and it does not require a lot of research to determine that, a simple test is enough. Next time when you look at a spot full of garbage try to see what is within it. It will be mostly (not always but more than often) chips packets, soft drink bottles, and other sort of junk food rappers. Then ask yourself if it is the waste of only the uneducated class- can even 10% of them afford to have junk when they can’t even afford shelter, education is a lost world for those. So there has to be some educated people also responsible for this problem. It was a week ago when I was walking back from college to the hostel when an auto passed by and an empty packet of chips was flown out rather thrown out. The person doing such an intelligent act was definitely not the auto driver but a student living in the same hostel as mine which has a dustbin some eight steps from the entrance. Sorry to say the theory of education failed here.
Then comes the second solution that comes to all our minds- strict laws.We want the government to make strict laws, implement those strict laws and finally check the applicability of those strict laws as well. The question is, “where are we in this entire process and where is the conformity that this solution is actually a solution or not?” Looking into the efforts of the present P.M. of India for cleaning the government offices that stand as a landmark in dirtiness. The other example would be the use of paper bags in place of plastic bags. Both the initiatives are successful but only on a superficial level. The offices will be clean till the rule exists and the paper bags are just showpieces ultimately put inside a plastic cover. Till the time we need a teacher to inspect our activities, we will not grow up to take our responsibilities.
Finally the most exciting part the two movies- The Day After Tomorrow & The Day The Earth Stood Still.
Where one shows the end of the planet due to our careless approach. The other showcases the preservation of the planet by the end of the selfish human species. You may take it as joke that I am discussing science fiction in the world of reality. But the reality is may be not today or tomorrow, not to us or to our children but one day with the way the degradation is happening- we will come to an end. Maybe not by aliens but by the sweet fruits of our own acts.
Why the theory of education failed and that of strict laws too is because nothing can change us but ourselves. No education can bring the belongingness in your soul nor does any law make us feel for our environment. It is we who have to change but the question is can we…..
Can we change, can we
Before changing the world.
Can we stand, can we
On the decisions we make for all.
Can we be us, can we be right;
Can we be us while being right.
Can we be the change, can we
We want to see in the world.
Can we be the world, can we
We want to make out of earth.
Yes we can,
We can do anything,
It just takes minutes to choose,
To choose our destiny.
Such an example of change was portrayed in the last season of the show called Satyamev jayate. The motto of “throwing nothing away” has been adopted by many universities- Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore; Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai; University of Hyderabad and University of Pune. These campuses have gone green or at least are trying to do so not for the sake of some law or restriction but for keeping their place clean. Our place includes our streets, our parks, our buses and our COUNTRY. When this change can be brought we will move from the wrong side to the right one.
About the Author
Dimple is a law student from Symbiosis Law School, Pune, who believes that hardwork always pays off as it adds perfection. A candid straightforward person, she writes poetry and loves the art of paper quilling & combines both for her close ones. Her mantra of life is “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE”. The greatest influence in her life is her mother who taught her the most important lesson of her life, which is there is only one way of doing things- doing it right. She is currently working as the Research Associate with Alexis Centre for Public Policy and International Relations.
