Monday, March 14, 2016

Delhi.....yet again!

New Delhi - Delhi - Dilli -- The capital of a populous democracy, famous for masculine Red Fort, tall Kutubminar, bustling Chandni Chowk, gorgeous Taj Mahal in the neighbourhood and its culture.



The memories of Chandni Chowk are still fresh and the aromas of kulche, paranthas, cholle, aalloo tikki...yum yum, the taste lingers. The cycle rickshaws, shawl clad people walking on streets, hot stuffed parathas being cooked by the roadside and served with tea, people grouped and enjoying a puff of beedi, the normal class busy with their everyday life. Dilli ki Sardi ki baat hi kuch aur hain!

Lovely and colourful and cheap markets; Delhi is vibrant and a touch of royalness is witnessed when you see those dainty shy girls clad in salwar kameez and modernly dressed girls redefining fashiona culture whose foundation is an outcome of fusion of Hindustani and Moghul cuisine, art and culture, which  makes Delhi an exquisite experience.   

Basically, everything about this city comes in a spotlight; the good and the bad.
Nirbhaya gang rape, Mr CM, his tweets, his policies, most polluted city, not so old odd-even car policy and the recent 'world cultural festival' marking 35 years of 'Art of Living.' - Delhi has always been media's favourite.

A recent broil about why only Delhi for world cultural festival? The river is dying and now this event has seen a huge turn-over through out the world.

A lot of criticism and I don't want to get into politics, not my cup of tea.

As a teenager, I remember visiting Mathura on a pilgrimage. The makhanchor, nand laal's bhumi, where a speck of dust too is considered pious, the air, the water and the entire Vrindavan is nothing but a representative of Kanha. Hare Rama..Hare Krishna is constantly ringing in your ears. I encountered those white vaishnavas in saffron robes, immersed in 'Bhakti' and one feels surprised. How can someone of a different culture and lifestyle be so comfortable in a new culture? Fondly known as Krishna's bhumi, it must have been clean during his reign; cleanliness is godliness but I was surprised to see Mathura so filthy, so unclean and unhygienic. We went to banks of Yamuna; it smelled horrid and I never understood a bunch of people led by priests offering prayers to Yamuna; milk, rice grains and flowers with great satisfaction reflecting on their faces. Not only Mathura, a few pilgrim places in Maharashtra - Pandharpur, Tuljapur and Akkalkot are no exception.

Coming back to Yamuna, the pollution was evident but yet people were ignorant though recently several NGO's have taken an effort to cleanse this holy river but why do we need a reason to oppose? Why in the first place a gathering was required to make us all realize 'largely'about the dying Yamuna? It has been dying a slow death for several years...so it is unfathomable to me that a 3 day event is causing a major threat to Yamuna than those industries that have been polluting it for several years.

It only leaves an impression that in today's day and world, there is a set of people who believe in doing something and another set who believes in criticising and not necessarily both are correct.

Sadly, People who talk about Yamuna conservation that is making so much noise now, don't care about:

pollution caused due to them using plastic bags
their habit of littering everywhere
spitting that pan masala
smoking in public places
honking horns
violating traffic rules
smoke given out from their vehicles
indulgence into shopping and buying non-sustainable products
being unkind and rude
gang rapes and child abuse

Not only Delhi but all metros are chaotic, losing their integrity, peace and calm. Our natural resources are at stake. Quality of life is declining. So wake up! People living in East, West and South of India all of a sudden are concerned about Yamuna, which is appreciable but they need to raise their voice for problems in their state, city, town, village they are in has many more problems to be dealt with. 

My question to you is - there must be a river or pond or lake in your surroundings or neighbourhood, what have you done for its restoration so far? Did you stop disposing 'Nirmaalya' or immersing idols of Ganesh and Durga mata?

It would be sensible if we do not become prey to politics and become a part of it, we are highly evolved creatures and something substantial is expected from us. 

Every time you protest, be honest about the reason of protesting. It shouldn't be influenced by religion and politics - be honest and neutral; neither leftist nor rightist, be neutral when it comes to natural resources.

It is not only Yamuna that needs to be conserved and cleansed but also our conscience.

Pic courtesy: Google. 

8 comments:

  1. This is Nimby(not in my backyard)attitude of us all Indians. As u said it's just not Yamuna , it is the pathetic state of all the rivers. These habits of dumping wastes, littering, and visarjans of idols have to come to a halt. One should not expect some organizations to come forward to do this. Everyone has to be loyal to his/her own country and save the natural resources. We Indians who fancy the cleanliness of the West fail to implement that in our own country. Tidyness has to start from the home itself.

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    1. I couldn't have agreed more Jyotsna. You have put it wonderfully. I literally don't understand the politically motivated idea of opposing a particular activity because to me there are already so many problems that need attention. Thanks for resonating with my opinion. Glad that we have neutral people like us.

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  2. You said it very well, from a neutral standpoint without taking any sides.
    And as you said, it is not just the case about Yamuna. I have visited a few rivers as well, and all the ones that are in the close vicinity of the so-called civilized urban life have been reduced to dirty and filthy black streams. Of what I visited, only the rural parts of the rivers seem to have been partly spared.
    I am having a hard time imagining when we Indians will voluntarily value Cleanliness for our homes, surroundings, public places and our Rivers, despite having the tradition of valuing a river as a Mother.
    This will require only a little more than shouting slogans, donot litter and throw in the distubins if you see stuff.
    Hope this simple thing dawns upon us all very soon.

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    1. Thank you Rama and I am really glad that there a bunch of people who believe in being neutral and analytical towards our problems. It was laudable when I read the nation's concern for Yamuna but this was short lived because I could only see the political and religious aspect behind this. Why cannot we Indians think beyond that? Why are our problems not more important than our religion and politics? A lot has to be done to change Indians but the change begins from 'we the people'.

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    2. What a valid question, "Why can't we Indians think beyond Politics and Religion?" From what ever little history I have read, it seems the modern India so far has been mostly about Religion and Politics only. It is in only very small pockets that we have stepped beyond those high voltage lines. But let's hope the educational system comes good at-least now and let's hope we rid ourselves of these blockages and march towards true development.

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    3. Rightly said, only education has the potential of lifting every stratum of our society to a same level. It is Humans who conceptualized and created Religion and Politics, how can these control us? Currently everything is driven by these both.

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