Clean India is becoming a Reality

The month of July i was traveling to various parts of India. It was a kind of leisurely travel, not the kind of earlier serious research trips. I visited my relatives, friends and some places of interest. Some of the travels were on train. I know Indian railway stations very well. As a student in Delhi for 7 years and a job holder in different parts of India for 7 years i traveled mostly in trains, drank platform tap water and ate rail food. When i see the stations now, and as i am writing this blog from Kolkata railway station, i see a difference. And i am serious and this is real. Indian railway stations are clean. Gone are the days of filthy railway platforms. The main reason, what i suppose, is the change in the mental attitude of the people. One must also add the active policy of the government to promote a clean India. Indian ingenuity played a role in government policies. The pictures taken from the Howrah railway station clearly reveal this. They appeal to popular psyche and imagination. I could have sent a picture of the station. I could not because the station is full of people and i could not take their pictures, even if incidentally, without their permission.

My experience of platform hygiene during my student days was not good. It was a kind of given and well settled in popular psyche that platforms must be filthy. One would come across plastic bottles, tea cups, wrappers, left over foods, torn clothes, stray dogs, banana skins, etc. strewn all over platform. Some people would not mind sitting close to garbage and won't hesitate to add to this national shame. One would easily come across people including families with children, waiting for trains, spreading bedsheets or some clothes amidst these garbage for rest and for eating food. It was also no surprise to find people sleeping amidst this garbage. There was a lack of sensitivity to surroundings and to public health.

Now i can see a definitive change. Indian railway platforms and trains have certainly become clean.  I would not say that they are the best, but a positive change is perceptible. A strong political will and corresponding change in people's attitude certainly played a role. My only fear is - lest not this popular and political enthusiasm lapse into apathy and old callousness. Indian railway is the life line of the Indian nation. Millions of people commute every day, and even, I would argue, the idea of India could not be complete without the Indian railway. Though established during the British era mainly for the purpose of administration and resource transport, the role of Indian railway in bringing people together and cultivating in them a sense of common destiny can not be ignored.

Refer to the pictures in the blog. Who says Gabbar Singh of Sholay is a villain? He should be celebrated as a hero as his iconic image and dialogue could be refashioned for a clean India.