October 3, 2014 – The Metrognome

Group of Mumbaikars takes up Modi’s cleanliness challenge

CST Station receives a much-needed clean up on October 2, on Gandhi Jayanti, to observe cleanliness, sanitation and community health.

by the Observer Research Foundation and Triratna Prerana Mandal, Mumbai

As part of Gandhi Jayanti celebrations on 2nd October, the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Sanitation, Cleanliness and Community Health, a joint initiative of Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and Triratna Prerana Mandal organised ‘Shramdaan’— a clean-up drive at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Mumbai.

Mahatma Gandhi dedicated his entire life so that India could attain ‘Swaraj’ but cleanliness was a cause that was even closer to his heart and above all he encouraged and promoted cleanliness of the surroundings, as he strongly believed that “if we do not clean our backyards, our Swaraj will have a foul stench.” Therefore, cleaning public places, like the CST, is the highest form of tribute to pay our beloved Bapu, father of the nation.

Answering the clarion call by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, all the enthusiastic participants followed in his footsteps by devoting their time towards the 100 hours of ‘Shramdaan’ to promote the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. On this occasion, Central Railways had called for public participation in their efforts towards honouring their commitment under the Clean India Mission 2019.

The staff of ORF researchers and interns, as well as volunteers that mainly included school students, teachers and many other citizens worked hand-in-hand to clean Platform No.1 and the adjoining entrance lobby of CST. Everyone contributed to the event with the sweep of a broom, the scrub of a brush and ardent words of appeal to keep Mumbai and our public places clean.

CST station, a UNESCO world heritage site — littered with garbage, posters on the walls and the splotches of paan stains — is not as welcoming to travellers and commuters as it should be. In an honest effort from all those who participated and without any hope or expectation of pats on the back, five hours were spent diligently scrubbing the station and to ensure that it was left in a better condition than before. Students and teachers from the Al-Muminah Girls School at Masjid Bunder participated enthusiastically in the clean-up and awareness campaign to encourage commuters to do their part towards keeping India clean. As the day progressed, commuters and curious onlookers also joined in. And, that is not all! Those who took a break from cleaning duties switched to spreading awareness by engaging commuters at the station.

On Independence Day 2014, Observer Research Foundation Mumbai and Triratna Prerana Mandal (TPM), one of Mumbai’s best-run community-based organisations, launched a joint initiative − Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Sanitation, Cleanliness and Community Health. This Centre aims to take up research, policy advocacy, activism and leadership development in the areas of slum sanitation, waste management, waste recycling, water conservation and public health in Mumbai and the larger Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Ravan in the fast lane

Our traditions are fading in the face of our own hazy recollection of them. What do we teach our children?

by Dr Pooja Birwatkar

The festive season is well and truly upon us, and while basking in it, I decided it was high time I helped my son brush up on his cultural knowledge.

Thanks to Shahrukh Khan, my child knows about Ravan, though he hasn’t heard of Ravan from the Ramayana. Realising that he had learnt a different version of Ravan prompted me, like many other moms, to attempt to undo the damage by telling him about the characters of our great ancient epics.

But I slowly realised that the road to enlightenment was full of hurdles. For one, I myself remembered only a very sketchy outline of the Ramayana. It really shook me up, and all my claims of being connected to my culture now lay about me in tatters. After a few days of heavy thinking, I managed to put my jumbled version into the right pieces, but I was still far from the real picture.

After this fiasco, I did not have the courage to attempt the retelling of the Mahabharata, which is even more complex than the Ramayana with its vastness and unending series of characters.

How did this happen? Have our lifestyles really started to take a toll on our traditions and cultures, which are slowly fading away without us even realising it? Even when we understand that we are doing very less to preserve our culture, we shrug off responsibility and excuse ourselves in the pretext of modernisation, liberated thoughts, paucity of time and daily stresses.

After becoming a parent I realised that I would impart the same ethics and sow seeds of all the beliefs and traditions which, once upon a time, I had resented as a child. Don’t we all try to mirror the parenting styles of our parents, and try to inculcate the same values in our children? Sure, all our parents’ values never become a part of our personalities, but we remember all of them and try to pass them on to the next generations. We may never have actively participated in trying to keep our culture alive, but when it comes to our children, we want our children to adopt our culture in its entirety.

Dussera reminds me of my sweet childhood, when listening to our epics during story sessions with parents and grandparents were one of our biggest pastimes. Children today are smart enough to tell you that they know that Santa Claus doesn’t actually come to their house on Christmas eve and their parents buy the gifts. As children, even we knew this about Santa Claus, but we were so rapt in our fairytale worlds that we willingly ignored what our minds cautioned us. We have grown up calling a sleepyhead ‘Kumbhakaran’ or a witty person ‘Birbal’. But our children have never heard of these hallowed personalities, which is the biggest tragedy of their lives.

Whatever age you are, the sight of the burning Ravan effigy with firecrackers exploding in the background never fails to enchant us and remind us that good always wins over evil. We try to teach our children about the many evils they will encounter, while also quietly reminding ourselves that we too, will slay the Ravans in our lives.

It is definitely not an easy task in Mumbai to go see the burning Ravan. The Mumbai gardi discourages us. So we content ourselves by going to malls and eating out. And while all that is good, does this mean that the future generations will never get a taste of what we experienced in our childhood?

A popular management saying goes, ‘Don’t tell us the problem, tell us the solution’. For starters, we could organise our own Ravan burning in our building societies. Involve the children to make Ravan and his brothers’ cutouts and collectively burn them. Plan to make it a community function. Have some sessions where an elder recounts our traditions and the stories behind them. Plan it the way you want, just don’t let the festival pass you by as just another holiday.

I think we owe this to our future generations. Do you?

(Pictures courtesy www.postmygreetings.com, www.princessliya.com. Images are used for representational purpose only)