By Barnes Mawrie
The old saying “cleanliness is next to godliness” seems hardly audible to the Indian ear where the opposite seems to be truer. Perhaps it is because this saying originated in the Christian world and not in India. But this is where ideology plays a great role in shaping the worldview, habits and behaviour of people. If the western society has scrupulously been upholding a great standard of cleanliness, it is largely because of this ideological impact enforced by Christianity. It is logical to conclude that if God is the purest being and heaven is an immaculate home, then cleanliness is a divine virtue which should be aspired for by believers of every religion. India unfortunately lacks such an ideology that is so fundamental to a civilized existence.
Recently a UN Agency has warned Svizera an Indian Pharmaceutical Institute that supplies cheap tuberculosis drugs to developing countries for not meeting the required standards. It is evident that much of criticism made by UN observers are on cleanliness or hygienic issues. If exported goods are treated so unhygienically, what better treatment do we expect of domestic consumption goods? I think we need not justify ourselves on this because all of us are aware of the dismal condition of cleanliness and hygiene in India. In most parts of our country the streets and market places are littered with wastes and foul odour hangs in the air. When the monsoons especially come the city streets are flooded due to lack of proper sewage system and a pandemonic situation is created.
India has been blessed in many ways. We are one of the oldest civilizations in the planet. We have a rich philosophical and scientific tradition as well as a renowned religious history. Our country has rich resources and unlimited talents. Indian doctors, engineers and scientists are found all over the world. However, one thing our great nation is still in deficit and that is a sense of cleanliness. No matter how poor and undeveloped a country may be but when it is clean it commands respect. Similarly, a house may be poor and thatch covered but when it is clean and tidy, it hides away all poverty and inspires reverence. On the other hand, we may have a palatial mansion with marbles and tiles, yet if there is no cleanliness in it, there is only shame. Consequently, what is the use of having a great, rich and resourceful country but when it is unable to maintain a certain standard of cleanliness. All the good that we have is forgotten and we become a victim of ridicule and insults.
Our present Prime Minister, Mr. Modi has struck the right note when he launched the national Swachh Bharat campaign at the start of his office. The ideology and relevance of such a campaign are doubtlessly admirable but the intention and commitment are still yet to be seen. Imagine if all over India the roads and public places are spick and span, our rivers are crystal and clear, our markets clean and ordered, our homes and compounds clean and tidy, our railway stations kept immaculate, what a great achievement it would be? In my opinion that would be the most significant and most memorable victory that any government could win. I hope our honorable PM will show more political will and determination in materializing his cleanliness campaign. However, to make Swachh Bharat Campaign a real success and not merely a political propaganda, there has to be a many-pronged approach.
First and foremost, an ideology has to be well phrased and publicized throughout the country. This ideology like that of “cleanliness is next to godliness” in Europe, will need some kind of religious sanction in order to impact the minds and hearts of people. Therefore, other religions other than Christianity which already has it, need to imprint in the religious consciousness of their adherents the importance and sacredness of cleanliness. This having been done, it would be more easy for the government to appeal to the citizens on this particular issue. The impact of religious sanction on such issues cannot be taken for granted. If the tribal people of Northeast India are comparatively more conscious about cleanliness than many others in other parts of India, the credit goes to Christianity which has fostered in them this ideology and practice. The people of Mawlynnong the cleanest village in Asia, are habituated to keeping their houses and village clean because the Anglican missionaries who came there taught the people the virtue of cleanliness. So religion does play a decisive role in brainwashing people about certain values which the secular authorities may not be capable of doing. So the solution in our country lies in the role of major religions like Hinduism and Islam to inculcate in every Indian the need to practice cleanliness. I wish that the Hindu pujaris and the Muslim mullahs make the issue of cleanliness a part of their conventional religious instructions. This is especially important for the younger generation of believers who are still amenable to corrections and who also constitute the future image of our nation.
Secondly, we need to realize that cleanliness is not conditioned by economy and so there is no question that a poor man or a poor family cannot be clean. Who says that even slums cannot be clean? Cleanliness is instead conditioned by an attitude which constructs a habit. Slums are perhaps the worst places in India where there is no order and cleanliness and where hygiene often takes a holiday. It is important that even such people living in such places should be conscientized about the value of cleanliness. Many sicknesses can be prevented and lives saved simply through the practice of cleanliness.
Thirdly, we Indians need to change our mentality and cultivate a more civic approach. We need to go beyond personal cleanliness to collective cleanliness. It is a characteristic Indian mentality to clean one’s house but to dump the garbage on public roads. The attitude of “sarkar-ka mal” must be replaced by an attitude of “hamara desh/gaon”. Such a change of mentality can result when all units of society – families, schools, colleges, churches/temples/mosques and universities – take to heart the task of conscientization and education to cleanliness. Let the adults of today nurture the dream of “clean India” for their posterity not by empty words but by a resolute action.
