Cleanliness is Godliness

We are well versed with this saying: “Cleanliness is Godliness”. We try to keep our home tidy and clean to attract positive energy and to keep the ambiance healthy. However we have a paradoxical attitude when it comes to maintaining the cleanliness of our city or country. Pissing and puking on the roadside, spitting while walking on the road, throwing food packets and chewing gum in the open road doesn’t sound to be an obnoxious activity for most Indians. It seems as natural as the birds have wings.

This abominable attitude of most Indians has startled the foreigners plenty of times. The untidiness of the roads, hospitals and railway stations truly deserves some action from our side. We cannot afford to show such a picture of our country to the foreigners visiting our country. Despite being educated, this attitude of Indians needs to be changed and the government needs to be stern in this regard.

On the 2^nd of October 2014, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a cleaning campaign following Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology of having a clean India. He promised to get India cleaned within 5 years. It was definitely an applauding move made by the Prime Minister but it is easier said than done.

The municipal corporation of every city and district has such a laid back attitude that getting India cleaned within 15 years also seems to be some distant dream. Recently during August, North Bengal was affected terribly by the deadly Encephalitis virus. More than hundred people died and plenty of people were hospitalized because of this virus, which is known to be spread by pigs and mosquitoes. Few people in Kolkata also contracted this deadly virus.

Pigs freely roam near the garbage vats. Since it was the monsoon season, those areas were waterlogged and therefore mosquitoes were common which carried this dangerous virus from pigs to humans. Because of untidiness and leaving waste materials in the open, North Bengal witnessed this encephalitis epidemic. A year back, a dengue epidemic was witnessed.

Untidiness and dirt do not only downgrade the image of our country in the eyes of foreigners but also gives rise to plenty of diseases. The health of people is greatly affected and epidemics are witnessed which takes the lives of plenty of people.

During monsoon, when I take a look at my city, I wince in shock. Improper drainage system mixed with dirt thrown on the road provides us with a horrific sight. 

Government hospitals where people are supposed to be given treatment are not kept clean. It is a pity that a place like a hospital does not maintain proper hygiene. The same pathetic situation is with the courts, railway stations, police stations and any other public places. The beautiful beaches where we go for vacation are also made dirty by constant littering.

Every educated Indian needs to speak against the growing untidiness and spreading of germs. We need to bring an immediate change. However we should first bring the change in ourselves. We should take the pledge that we would keep our city and country clean. 

#AbMontuBolega is a wonderful campaign which gives the power of voice to clean India. This campaign gives us the power to speak against all that is dirty in our country, places that needs cleaning and authorities who must hear our opinions so that we can work towards a Swach Bharat. 

Kyuki Bin Bole Ab Nahi Chalega #AbMontuBolega

You can get more details of this wonderful campaign at http://www.abmontubolega.com/

You can get further details of this campaign sponsored by Strepsils on Facebook and Twitter

The post is written for #AbMontuBolega campaign (http://www.abmontubolega.com/) by Strepsils in association with IndiBlogger.

Those beautiful days of childhood!

No matter how old or matured we become, a nursery rhyme, a moral story or a fairy tale has that tremendous power to take us back to those beautiful childhood days. Those days when mom used to read bedtime stories to me before I went to bed and the rhymes which were more endearing than any songs.  The best part of those stories was the morals which shaped us to be the person we are today.

It is difficult to choose my favorites among those plenty of nursery rhymes, moral stories and fairy tales. However, I can associate some of my best childhood memories with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”.

When I watched this video, I felt that this little girl is no one else but me when I was a little kid. My favorite rhyme has always been “Twinkle twinkle little star…how I wonder what you are”. I used to annoy my mother a lot in my childhood when she used to feed me dinner. I used to run all around the house so that I don’t have to eat. In order to make me sit quietly at a place, my mom used to take me near the window. She would tell me to count the stars in the sky and at that time when I became busy counting the stars, she used to feed me dinner. I was always so fascinated with these twinkling of the stars and whenever anyone would tell me to say a rhyme, I would recite this one for sure.

Watching this video of “Little Red Riding Hood” also brought back plenty of fond memories. I was in class 1 and there was this fancy dress competition in my school. My favorite color was red and so my mom dressed me up as Little Red Riding Hood. I wore a beautiful red frock and a red scarf on my head. I carried a basket and looked like Red Riding Hood. The dress suited me so much that I remember that I won the second prize for this fancy dress competition.  I also remember that after I heard this story, I never talked to strangers in my childhood. The moral of the story “You should never talk to strangers and listen to your parents” pierced through my mind quite well.

It was really a pleasure watching these lovely videos in http://www.youtube.com/kidshut and recollecting the affectionate memories of childhood days. 

 

One of my fav childhood picture...when I was three years old

This post is a part of Kids Hut activity at BlogAdda.com

Open defecation - Impact on the dignity of the female

India is known worldwide for it's culture and tradition but these days it is also becoming known for the poverty, dirt and crimes against women which is existing in it's society.

In India, we can find thousand of people who take a moral high ground and talk about dignity of women. From what women should wear to which places they should travel. I find it really amusing that when it comes to the problem of open defecation, which affects the dignity of the women the most, these people are silent.

The silence of the society to such a grave problem has resulted in many problems for women, which most of the women don't even complain about and have made it a part of their life.

Every year the cases of sexual assault on women who are doing open defecation are increasing. Many women gets teased and face troubles everyday. The society has failed to give them the respect that they deserve. 

There has been numerous complains made to the authorities and we can read the news about this everyday but still the situation has hardly changed the women in our society. Since the law and order is also not a point which our country is proud of hence women become more susceptible for attack.

It is not just crimes but just the dignity of being a human, we can't excrete in the open like animals. Even in this age when our country is trying to become a super power, it is a pity to see that many women in our country is still doing open defecation or in other words living their life like animals.

When in this country we worship women in the form of Maa Durga and many other goddess then why can't we pay the same amount of respect to the women who are living around us and who are part of the same society we live in.It is matter of great concern that women have to fight every day for their dignity and our society is unable to provide them this basic facility of toilets.

I think it is a great initiative by Domex (www.domex.in) to work towards creating toilets for the villages. This will definitely a commendable step towards giving women their dignity back. The village women who suffers a lot without uttering a single word, will be given the respect they deserved.

Domex launched Domex Toilet academy programme on 19th November 2013. This toilet academy works towards creating accessible and affordable toilets for people while also promoting the benefits of clean toilets and good hygiene.

You can also participate in the "You Click Domex Contributes" initiative at   http://www.domex.in/. The details are mentioned below -

You can bring about the change in the lives of millions of kids, thereby showing your support for the Domex Initiative. All you need to do is “click” on the “Contribute Tab” on www.domex.in and Domex will contribute Rs.5 on your behalf to eradicate open defecation, thereby helping kids like Babli live a dignified life.

I really thank Domex (www.domex.in) for such a great initiative and hope they are able to restore the lost dignity of the village women in the society.

The post is written for #ToiletForBabli Contest by Domex (www.Domex.in) in association with Indiblogger.