It Starts From Your Home
How would you feel when you have to clean up after we make a mess at home?
Mostly we just don’t feel like doing it. Remember, this is a mess which we made while trying to have fun. This is a mess which is a lot cleaner, smells better and is not nasty. We just don’t want to clean up; we need to have a very important virtue right from the beginning, called responsibility. This word can be applied to any part of our life, and it fits perfectly. We have to be responsible enough from the morning, waking up on time, to the time we hit the bed. As growing children, you have to be happy that your responsibilities aren’t much. Your parents take the most of it, and you just have to comply with them.
Now imagine how a person would feel while collecting the waste they didn’t create in the first place. It’s their job, but that doesn’t mean they have to be enduring the mess we created.
Every day they help the city clean up and work under hazardous health conditions because of us. They are also soldiers of this country, the clean soldiers. One day they don’t work, and you know how nasty the place becomes. You can help them by cleaning up after yourself and throwing away the garbage responsibly. Start now; start early. Because most of the dirty garbage lying on the streets is from us who aren’t aware of the responsibility of disposing of it properly. It wasn’t nurtured properly while growing up. You as the future generation should not grow up to be those irresponsible people. Empathize with the person who is picking your garbage at your home.
With social media we are learning so many new things and watching viral videos. Why doesn’t anyone make a viral video of sorting garbage? That’s a skill everyone needs to know. Our city has never been this dirty in the past. Watching the garbage strewn on the roads, waiting for the city to clean up, is like making your mother clean up after you made the mess. Of course she is going to do it, but trying to help her is the right thing to do.
Everything is a learning; it may be difficult in the beginning, but as you practise it is going to be a lifestyle. We didn’t learn to brush in a day, so why don’t we try sorting our garbage properly? Try to produce less garbage every day. We are a city which has banned plastic bags, but still, how come there is so much garbage lying out there? Keeping your neighbourhood clean is also OUR responsibility. The other day I saw a man conveniently throwing a wrapper in the middle of the road; he didn’t have any thought on how that paper was going to reach the garbage bin. I can be sure how his home is going to be!
When we start being aware of our social responsibility, the city can be questioned, and they will start doing their part of the work. We are the same people when travelling abroad, following rules and throwing the waste in the right place. We have the freedom this country is giving; this is our home, and keeping it clean is our responsibility too. As children can empathize better, you will understand it and become responsible citizens. Use your screen time to find ways to sort out your house garbage, next time you throw a paper remember that garbage collecting anna in your neighbourhood, they are human too. There’s no point calling ourselves an advanced civilization when we are the ones polluting it the most. Rather than waiting for someone to do the job, let’s start small; let’s begin today.
Rekha Murugapoopathy
Parent of Narein Karthik (Grade II)
Mahatma Global Gateway
