Sweeping off those Litterbugs

I watched the above video twice before writing this post and each time it made me cringe more and more simply thinking about the state of affairs of our country. We belong to a beautiful country which gets deteriorated day by day. Yes, we may claim to be developed, we boast of living in metropolitan cities. Yet, when it comes to taking care of our environment, we are still way backward. 

Having lived in a place like Dubai for quite sometime, it never ceases to astonish me what the citizens here have done for their country. There are colorful flowers and greenery everywhere. It was hard for me to believe that a desert country could thrive so well. Of course, the clean state of this country that I live in is something that I'm proud of. You won't find people littering the grounds or dumping garbage on the side of roads. The reason is because there are heavy fines for all of this. Even chewing a gum while travelling on public transport like the metro attracts a hefty fine.

But the very same people who follows all the rules while in a foreign country, never hesitates or thinks twice once you are back home. People chewing paan and spitting the disgusting remnants on the roads and walls are a common sight. Not to mention the men folk who conveniently use the open air to relieve their calls of nature. Dude, a word of advice- if you simply can't hold it in till you reach a restroom, then probable you should take to wearing diapers. I hear they come in all sizes nowadays. And none of us are interested in seeing how far you can pee, thank you very much. 

The state of the restrooms in our country are a pathetic state where many of of us ladies, hesitate and use it only in cases of unbearable emergency. Yes, provided you have the will power to hold your breath and jump out as soon as you finish your business. Which is why I hate travelling long distances when I come for my vacations. I have many an entertaining tale on those journeys that I have gone. The memory of some of them which is still nauseating. 

Though there are arrangements in cities to dispose off both plastic and food waste, people still take the easier route and dump their waste as they feel like. Last month as I was in India, I saw a couple of guys dumping huge amounts of waste right into the waters from a bridge! It was in the early hours of morning and was still dark. The sight was disturbing and it's pathetic how some people shall always be. Like we have studied in school, not only is this degrading, but causes water population as well. 

There are lot of initiatives that are taken up by the younger generation that I saw on TV sometime back. This includes generating cooking gas from waste and is an effective ways of recycling it as well. Even if one doesn't resort to such extreme measures, the least you can do is to dump your empty bottle and cans in the waste bins that can be found in ample in all public places. Smokers, kindly refrain from throwing out your cigarette butts through your open windows. Not only is this littering, but harmful to the vehicles behind you. Small acts can go a long way in making our country a cleaner and sparklier one. Say NO to littering today.  

This post is written for Indiblogger in association with The Great Indian Litterbug campaign by Times of India. 

Also linking this post to Write Tribe Pro Blogger Challenge.