Where are your buckets?
Piles of garbage are taken away from every locality in the city; this household chore was once thought of as a measure to dispose garbage effectively — segregate the recyclable and non-recyclable wastes with the help of blue and green buckets.
But these buckets seem to have lost their purpose somewhere along the way — they’re either used to store grains, water, and whatnots, or grow plants.
At one point, personnel on duty who come aboard the garbage trucks in the city localities would not accept the waste if they were brought in plastic bags. Initially, I got people grumbling some even put up a fight, confronted the workers. Eventually, they obliged, the entire neighbourhood would run to the garbage truck with blue and green buckets.
But gradually, it changed.
At present, you can pretty much carry anything — the most popular ones are plastic bags — and they’ll dump it.
Notwithstanding the majority that go astray, we cannot rob some of the credit as they still use the assigned buckets. Kudos to you, if you’re reading this.
Waste segregation could go a long way. It can help reduce the amount of waste that goes to the landfill.
Not just that, it can make recycling more effective, as different materials can be recycled more easily when separated.
Most people are aware of the importance of recycling and the benefits it has for the environment, but don’t do their part.
Learning to adjust
Shillongites are known for their good nature and easygoing attitude towards life. They are great at adjusting to problems and situations that come their way without much of a complaint.
The residents of the Pine City are often found to display a character of civility the likes of which may be found in the essays/ short stories written by famous English journalist, editor and writer AG Gardiner.
Like Gardiner’s fictional characters, Shillongites are a peculiar species. They adjust well to situations and learn to live with them.
Certain examples may be described to understand our good nature. Take the case of overcrowded cabs — we happily adjust to accommodate four persons in the rear seat of a Maruti or an Alto and pay the full fare with a smile.
We happily agree to pay exorbitant fares charged by the cabbies despite knowing the actual fare. This is again due to our good nature.
We don’t mind spending hours in a traffic jam, almost on a daily basis, only due to our placating nature. After all it is the only time when we can unwind and take life easy. We also don’t mind the pothole filled roads, the wrong driving habits of fellow inhabitants, the overtaking and rash driving by some innocent or naive people despite them being the reason behind the traffic chaos.
We are gullible by nature and easily believe that the city’s traffic menace will improve since the government is working on it.
Shillongites also take it easy when power cuts happen without a warning and water supply is disrupted for days without any notice.
“Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”
