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Want cleanest city tag? Exercise self-discipline
Spice of Life: Used to a disciplined life, I had a few misadventures after I retired as I could not resist checking people who were blowing horns, tossing garbage on the road, driving in the wrong lane or had a cellphone glued to their ear
For five consecutive years, Indore has been adjudged the cleanest city by the Swachh Survekshan, the central government’s annual cleanliness survey to promote sanitation in urban centres. Now, cleanliness is almost second nature to the people of Indore.
This was, however, not always the case. A couple of decades ago, Indore was severely overpopulated and far from clean. Indore’s remarkable strides in cleanliness take me back to the year 1994 when a group of schoolchildren from Indore visited Army Station, Mhow, which is around 20km from the city. When the tour concluded, a student remarked, “The army station was so clean because of officer’s discipline.” Perhaps, it was these very students, who triggered a seismic change by exercising self-discipline. The government should consider grading cities according to discipline rather than cleanliness.
After all, disciplined people lead healthy and organised lives. Discipline means using reason to determine the best course of action rather than giving in to one’s desire. This can help in cleanliness efforts and can transform an ugly present into a beautiful future.
Discipline is the bridge between goals and their accomplishment. The indicators of a disciplined city can easily be discerned. These are the management of garbage, stray animals on the roads, number of traffic violations, management of public places, parking ethos, conduct of citizens in public places such as banks, courts and government offices.
Used to a disciplined life, I had a few misadventures after I retired. I could not resist checking people who were blowing horns, driving in the wrong lane or had a cellphone glued to their ear, those who did not know that the vehicle coming from the right has ‘right of way’, those tossing their garbage on the road, and those who didn’t hesitate to jump the red light. It is irksome that even the educated do not segregate their garbage into wet and dry waste. Overflowing bins are an ugly site in most parts of our country.
However, each time I checked people, I was snubbed,saying, “You must be from the army or an ex-serviceman. Keep the discipline to yourself!” My wife often would often cite cases of road rage, but till today I cannot resist rebuking wrongdoers.
A culture of cleanliness and discipline can be inculcated by introducing a compulsory subject in schools as is done in Japan. Target the younger generation for a better future. In the words of the American writer Pearl S Buck, “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible and achieve it surely generation after generation.”
Remember, a Disciplined Bharat will encompass Swatch Bharat.
inderjit@home-n-home.com
The writer is a Chandigarh-based freelance contributor
