What is needed to clean India?

Cleaning your house is easy. Well, not really. You probably outsource that to a bai. What happens when she doesn’t come? You either wield the broom yourself,  grumbling all the time, or you resign yourself to a dirty house for a day.

Sare Jahan se Acha- par Swacha?

Let’s extrapolate this to India’s situation. That’s our home too, right? Those countless Hindi film patriotic songs, that we hum come every Independence Day? There are no bias to clean India. We have to at least take care that we don’t dirty it, even if we don’t clean it.

Would you clean up after others?

I remember reading a Reader’s Digest article when I was a kid, about a man in Bangalore who would sweep the footpaths outside his house.  If we have a problem picking up after other people, at least we should not be one of those people.

Why aren’t we clean?

So let’s examine why people don’t think it necessary to keep India clean. What’s one more wrapper? What difference will one person being conscious of not littering make?

Court to the rescue

Just read that the Delhi High Court is pulling up municipality workers for not keeping the city clean. It is taking the KITA or Kick in the Ass approach. If they can’t keep the city clean, they should be fired.

The judiciary has always been one of the hands on arms of the government. Seen as impartial, it is perceived as an organ that gets work done, rather than dither due to political motivations.

So, if this judgment catches on, it can have far reaching implications. It can set a precedent. Other cities can follow suit. Accountability is key. As it rightly points out, if there is a cleaner appointed for each area, then why is the city dirty? By demanding details of the area cleaned, work will get done.

We who work know that the only way to get work done is to keep following up with the person concerned. Naturally the worker will have to work if he has to give details of the work done.

India Inc is cleaner

Cleaners in the private sector clean all the time. It would be great if we also had workers round the clock for this.

Swach Bharat Abhiyan is catching on

What seems different about Swach Bharat Abhiyan is that it has captured the imagination of the people. From school children to celebrities to courts, everyone is pitching in. So, we might very well see a clean India.

That would be great! We can finally then tell snooty foreigners who whine about India being dirty to take a walk. Literally. And those Indians who go abroad and then turn up their noses when they come back home? Them too.

So let's speak up like Montu, of Strepsils. It's a pretty cool campaign to make people think and share about this issue. #AbMontuBolega #AbSabBolenge #AbSabKarenge

Close Shave

My husband told me that he once did not hire a candidate because he was unshaven. I don't know why men don't bother to shave.

Excuse 1- It hurts

Pain. Maybe that’s why men shrink from shaving. Maybe they think it’s inner beauty that counts. Well, tough luck. If you don’t bother about yourself, no one’s going to bother about you.

Excuse 2- Work is worship

Or does it symbolize that they are working so hard that they don’t have time to shave? Considering they have time to yap, smoke and do other unnecessary things, even that excuse seems flimsy.

Excuse 3- I don’t have to look at myself

Seriously. There should be like a mirror which they have to follow wherever they go. Once they are also subject to the visual pollution they make others go through, they might change. I doubt though.

Carrot 1- Positive reinforcement

What about compliments? Do they work? No. The fun of laziness makes a compliment on a clean shaven look a distant memory. Don’t they realize if their laziness is so obvious, it’s going to affect how they are perceived at work?

Carrot 2- Get the girl

What about those lonely single guys? How do they think they are going to be able to change their status if they look like walking haystacks? Or do they really think that women go for character and men for looks?

Stick 1- Pay for it

Like at school, where you were penalized if your shoes were not shiny, there should be fines for unshaven guys. 

Stick 2- Scissorhands

Take a leaf out of Bobbit’s book. Just hack when he is asleep. If he wakes up, so what? You’re the one with the weapon :)

'This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity 
at BlogAdda in association with Gillette'.

Touch me not

As Yash reached for Rashi, she slapped him away. “You just have one thing on your mind,” she yelled. Yash grinned impishly and replied, “Guilty as charged. I am a guy, you know.”

She hmphed and stalked off. Only to nearly bump in Yash, grinning, who once again made a grab at her. Rashi made a pained expression and drew his hands away.

“I have to pack, I’m going home,” she announced, pulling down a suitcase.

“This is your home,” said Yash.

“Whatevs,” she replied as she opened her cupboard and began pulling out clothes.

As Rashi landed in Delhi, she thought,”I’m finally going to see mom and dad after a year! It’s going to be great to meet the girls again too!”

A month slipped by, full of laughter, sumptuous meals spiced with love, revisiting old haunts, heart-to- heart girl talks with the gang.

She sighed. “It’s time to go home.”

This time, Rashi was the one reaching for Yash at the airport. “I missed you,” she cooed as she nuzzled his ear. Yash tried to play hard to get, but he couldn’t. He was a guy, you see.

A night of passion seemed too little to make up for that month apart. “It feels like Bali again,” thought Rashi as she snuggled closer to Yash. “What happened? Life got in the way, I guess. Housework should be banned! There’s never been a bigger mood killer,” she burst out, not realizing she was no longer thinking silently.

Luckily, Yash was fast asleep. Rashi traced his face as she promised to herself,”I’m going to try and be more of a guy where this touching thing is concerned!”

Yash’s eyes flew open as he reacted,”Are you a man trapped in a woman’s body?”

“No, silly! I just…forget it,” Rashi smiled as she closed his lips with a kiss.

#BringBackTheTouch

Our first vintage buy

My mom wanted to buy a record player for many years. We have many old records- ghazals, Bengali songs, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc. When I searched ‘record player’ in Kolkata on Quikr, I was overjoyed to see that there was an HMV one with amplifier available. In fact, I had downloaded the Quikr app on my smartphone and searched for a record player on my way back from office.

I spoke with the seller on the phone to find out the cost. I was overjoyed to hear that it was for Rs.5000! I checked with mom whether that was OK with her. When she seemed interested, I set up a meeting with the dealer.

We took along a couple of records to make sure that the record player was in good working condition. After much explanation from the seller on where his office was located, we finally tracked him down. He led us to his office in a maze of lanes, which we would certainly not have been able to navigate without him.

After climbing a flight of stairs, we met our record player. He had also kept a record ready to play for us. I could have never imagined that its sound was so clear! Truly, the wheel has turned full circle. People say CDs have more clarity of sound, but the sound coming from those decades old records was even better.

The seller explained that in the US, vinyl is coming back in fashion. He also told us how we could look for wood glue to clean our old records, so that’s the next item on my shopping list. Meanwhile, we plan to use shampoo water to clean the dust that has settled in our records. He also explained that we should stack our records vertically, not horizontally, so that they don’t press on each other and bend.

The record player was fairly simple to operate. With the turn of a knob, it would get switched on.

You could keep turning the knob to play with the tone.

Next to it, on the left hand side, was another knob to control the volume. The amplifier made the sound coming from the player even more grand.

It used a simple two pin and was compact. Good, as our home is overflowing with stuff as it is!

The amplifier doubled up as a cover for the record player. We played our records too, learning the ropes of putting a record on, and switching it off. When we switched it off, the record would stop spinning. These CD players, ipods and what not have done a disservice to music by covering the mechanics of playing it.

The sound clarity of our records on the player was amazing too. One record seemed dusty, so the voice was unclear. Although we were unsure of how many of our records back home would be in playable condition, we still decided to go for the record player.

The record player can play records at 3 different speeds- 33 rpm, 43 rpm and 78 rpm.

And in two sizes, big and small. The seller works on computers and data recovery, he said that he likes to listen to records late at night.

The seller explained that max to max we would have to replace the rubber pin in a while, once it wore out. He said that it would just cost Rs.10-15,and he would help us in getting the replacement part. He said that an Akai record player he had was for Rs.25,000 and generally record players start from Rs.50,000. Sounded good to hear then, with a bargain in front of us!

It just fit in our bag and we were careful to keep it horizontal on our way back. We decided to keep it in the bedroom. Mom practices her music there, so it seemed like the natural place for it. It does look happy!

Now I’m curious to know how a record player works. We may even order new records from the US for our dear new white elephant. Google informs me that Edison invented the phonograph, the grandfather of the record player.

Feels that there’s a piece of history in our bedroom now! When Papa came home, I immediately sent him into the bedroom to have a look at the newest member of our household. As the record turns, a stylus reads the groove.

The stylus has made a comeback with phones, so who knows, record players might become popular in India again, as we are so fond of aping the West. Anyway, to resume- the stylus reads the vibrations on the grooves of the record as it moves.

These are turned into electrical signals and carried to the amplifier by wires. The speakers turn these signals back into sound.

Only in Kolkata would you find a person wanting a record player, and a person selling a record player, methinks. It’s great that a years old wish could be fulfilled just by a few clicks on Quikr! HMV- His Master’s Voice will echo in our flat and give us many happy hours as we listen to great music while gazing at the lovely lake outside. If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this…

Thanks to BlogAdda too!

"This post is a part of Quikr.com activity at BlogAdda.com " .