Interacting with children is undoubtedly one of the greatest experiences ever. Some may say that kids, today, are not so innocent. With the help of technology, kids seem to grow up too soon. But after my third school visit as part of TidyCity school awareness programmes, I have felt no such doubt. Kids are always kids.

When I say they are innocent, don’t get an impression that they are all good little angels, polite and obedient. Oh no. Some are naughty, some are more naughty, some are extremely and gigantically naughty! Ages 10 to 12. A time when one can afford to be as carefree as possible. A time to jump up and down at all times, a time to ask any silly or embarrassing question anyplace. Cause if you don’t ask then, how do you know the answers?

Our first school programme was in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, in Feb this year. Oh boy, that was the first rude shocker! We had no more wrong ideas about 11-year-olds! They are a notorious lot I tell you. But I am of the opinion, it shows more than anything else, their innocence. They want to be wild, they go wild. Nothing to stop them. No reason to impress anyone by observing a certain code of conduct society seems to have imposed on every adult. No; you can run around, you can make a lot of noise, you can do all sorts of things. And that is exactly why TidyCity wants to reach out to them at this stage. Because in between all the wild merry, they actually pick up things around them. They learn. So if we show them the right ways to treat the place we live in, they pick that up too. They may have questions for you – some of which may bring your eyes out of your sockets – but still, they learn.

The second programme was at St. Shanthal, in July. We talked to classes 5, 6 and 7. Class 6, we decided, was more notorious. 11 is a great age. It is the last stage of childhood for many. The times when boys and girls still repel each other, when something as small as a candy could brighten up your world. When we talked to them, they responded. Difficult to keep young little things in attention, but they seemed to follow our language. They seemed to understand. Well, it could be to get more chocolates that they readily agreed with everything we told them. But a response is always a positive sign. Much better than all that neglect from grown-ups, to the world around us.

Third programme was on August 5, at Christ Nagar. When each of the students was too eager to answer our quiz questions, we know it is pure childish delight in being able to prove they know a bit about the world, in front of their classmates and friends. We know it could be to win a gift for getting the correct answer. But so what? An older person may want to do the same, but sit quietly to meet the so-called standards of accepted behaviours and (ahem) maturity. Younger ones have no such qualms. The bigger joy was in the end, when they sincerely framed their own messages to tell their friends and others, about what one should and should not do to keep their surroundings clean. Let’s hope this generation would grow up to be much more responsible young adults than their previous generations.

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Today I woke up at 7. As usual I went to my backyard to have a look at my plants, when a strong stench came to my nose. The smell was soo strong that it could not be avoided. Just near to my house a Tamil family is living (they can speak Malayalam also).The house is so near that we can hear it even when they whisper! I said to a lady there that some smell is coming from their house. The lady said that the smell is from the fish heads she threw on their compound!! I was shocked to hear this How can she tell this without any guilty feeling!! Cant she understand that the smell is disturbing us!! She said that as she didn’t hear the waste collectors’ whistle she just threw it out!!

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I knew them already because if I am not in my house, they would burn plastic and if I am there they will give it to the waste collector. And the lady used to throw plastic bags with fish in it. And I used to take it to my home and give it to the waste-collector. Nothing new I felt about that incident. Anyway, I decided to go there and collect it again this time. I was shocked to see a big cover full of fish heads!! I took that cover to my home, removed all the fish head. At that time my mother came there and she saw what I did!! My God, she created such havoc that the whole neighborhood came to know about this!!

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But all these didn’t stop me from going there again to dig a pit to cover those fish heads. I washed that cover before keeping it inside the waste bucket in my house-compound.

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My mother said that this cannot be allowed because diseases will spread from that. I said 3 years back I was ill with chikungunya from the waste thrown all over the same neighborhood compound by another family (many families came there to live on rent). That was the reason I started cleaning realizing that whether the waste is on our compound or on the neighbor’s compound, the end result is disease to all!

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But I said finally whatever others think about me, whatever rumors others spread about me, even if they mock me or call me insane, I will continue to clean my surroundings. I remember now the dengue outbreak at medical college and surroundings.-the reason for which is the improper disposal of trash all around the medical college compound-and the sufferers are the people who live in the neighborhood!! High School Musical 2

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I am sure that nobody is going to understand us but that doesn’t mean we should stop doing whatever we are feeling is right. From time immemorial those who are on the path of truth suffered a lot. Socrates was killed because he said the truth. Jesus was killed because he said what is true. And in India Gandhiji was killed because of the same reason!!

So friends whatever others think about us we should continue to do what it takes us to our goal-a tidy city!

(This is in continuation of another entry posted some time back – link to that entry)

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For sometime now, I was thinking about my neighbor’s compound which I had cleaned a month back. To satisfy my curiosity I took a look around and found the same scenario that I saw back then!! Plastic waste was scattered all around the compound! From the moment I saw this, my mind wouldn’t rest until I decided to do a second round of clean up. I was reluctant at first but I proceeded anyway!

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I went there today as soon as I came back from a place I had to go to, with a sack and a pair of gloves. I was shocked to see empty plastic alcohol bottles! It was not actually empty, there was some liquid still left in these bottles. I collected everything. I saw more than 6 plastic covers full of food thrown away carelessly. I was thinking how these people were living there amidst this junk!

I found a lot of pan covers, wet plastic covers, and towards the end, the sack was almost full! I called a person from the house to show the sack. This time, I was more courageous; I explained the dangers of littering and I warned them about snakes that might wander to the house in search of food from the nearby sarpakaavu (serpent grove). Cobras were seen in that house on two or three occasions!

I explained the dangers of throwing plastic wastes in the compound and I think they finally understood what I was trying to say. Actually, 25 people are living in the same house! Just think if each one of them starts throwing plastic covers, and bottles around! What a mess it was!

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I carried the garbage sack (that I collected) and left it at the collection point of corporation at Pettah poultry farm. I wrote a message in a sheet of paper- “Dayavaayi plastic wastes alakshayamayi parisarangalail valicheryatirikkuka – www.tidycity.org” (Please don’t abandon plastic wastes in your surroundings – www.tidycity.org)

I hope they have learnt a lesson at least this time! But I very much doubt it!

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I was having some snacks with a cup of coffee at a stall near Technopark. It is my usual place for morning coffee and I know the regulars there. But I was late that day, and there were only a few North Indians there. Just then, Anjali – the RJ from ClubFm who hosted the interview with TidyCity last Tuesday, called me to ask about the program. I had a short chat with her and thanked her for the support they gave for TidyCity.

Meanwhile I finished my plate of snacks, and ofcourse my ever-unsatisfied stomach wanted more. I went over to the trash bin to drop my napkins and biscuit wrapper (well not exactly a bin; its a plain packing box which you understand as a this-is-where-trash-goes-in only after seeing the amount of trash inside it (talk about re-use! )).

“Nice! TidyCity??”, said a voice and I turned back.

One of the North Indians I saw eating there was standing behind me with a grin on his face.

Stranger : “TidyCity right? ”
Me : “Yes!! ”
Stranger : “You seemed to be familiar. I heard ‘TidyCity’ from your phone conversation . I think I have seen you in The Hindu”
Me : “Ofcourse. We were featured last week. TidyCity is a group for people working…”
Stranger(Interrupts) : ” I know! I was watching you to see whether you actually do what you preach! Nice work. I would like to join you guys.”
Me : “Well, you are welcome! ”

And I explained to him how to join us. His ID told me that he was working in UST.

I grabbed another set of snacks and went back to my table. By the time I finished half of it, the stranger got up from his seat which was opposite to mine and prepared to leave the place. His table proved that he was just like me (in that we had similar kind of appetite); but then a couple of more guys were there with him. The table was a mess with biscuit wrappers, napkins and Frooti packs. He took his bag from the table in a sweep and most of the leftovers that he collected on the table were thrown to the floor. He turned back and passed a warm goodbye smile to me.  “I’ll be there with you guys on next Sunday!!”

With a perplexed expression on my face I looked at him and then at the mess he was leaving behind. Seems like he got the point. “I am sorry Srijith. Didnt see it “. He went on to pick it up and dump it in the trash box.

I hope he will join will us . It’s a pleasure to see people appreciating our actions and showing genuine interest to join us.

And now I know that people will be watching us to see whether we are doing it right. So guys, remember our first and foremost objective: set an example. Never let any one question you for littering around! Show by example and they are sure to follow you!

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I have been worried about something since the time they came to my neighborhood .They were more than 10, a group of young Tamilians who were recruited in connection with the airport terminal work. They were here for the past 2- 3months. Since they came I was worried about the waste removal in that house since they were new to this place and may not be aware of the trash disposal system. I was wondering how to tell them that plastic covers and paper bits must not be thrown about in the open .I waited for a few weeks to see what they were doing. They did as I expected! They threw plastic, paper, and all sorts of wastage around their backyard and front yard! This time I decided to speak. I saw one boy and since he didn’t know English I had to use the little Tamil I knew. I somehow I conveyed the message and said please don’t feel bad because I spoke like that. He said it is ok.

Next day I saw their leader – someone from Andhra; I explained the same to him. Yet, for the next one week they were doing the same! Throwing their garbage all around the house. I was furious but kept silent. On the next day, to my surprise, I found the entire front yard cleaned and the garbage collected in a bucket to be given away to trash clearance. I was so happy. I saw that they had their front yard cleaned almost everyday after that. But recently I noticed the back of their house is full of rubbish. At first, I thought to just ignore it and that there was no use in telling them. But since yesterday, after the news of tidycity came in The Hindu I decided to try.

Today morning since I got up much earlier than usual, by 5 am, I decided today was the day. I just went to their house and rang the front-bell. A boy opened the door. I was holding The Hindu of Feb. 11th in which was a news about the dengue outbreak in Trivandrum.
I asked the whether anybody in house knew English and he went inside to call the supervisor. He was sleeping. But he came out and since he was a Malayali, I explained to him by showing the news piece which said about one person who died of dengue fever in Trivandrum. I requested him to explain to others also that plastics should not be carelessly thrown around; I told that I just wanted to pass this message and that I was going to clear out the plastic trash with his permission He agreed.

I collected all kinds of plastic junk, and bottles; some bottles were full of rotten milk! It was all over the house. How they were living there amidst this rotten jungle I have no clue! I collected everything in a big sack and went through the road carrying the sack on my back to a place near the poultry farm in Pettah where the corporation vehicle usually comes to collect the trash. I looked like a trash collector but I never felt ashamed to carry that sack through the whole stretch of the main road from my house to the poultry farm neighborhood. I feel a little satisfied now because at least for the time being there will be lesser number of mosquitoes.

Hope they understood what I did.

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