Respect for one’s surroundings must be ingrained

Manoj Jarange

By the time you read this, you will know what exactly has been the fallout of the Manoj Jarange and Maratha agitation, after the Bombay High Court order asking the leader and his protesters to leave.

This edit is focussed on not who has left or who has not, but what has been left behind. After days of mayhem, the streets and protest site are filthy. Sanitation workers have been pressed into service; there is much to do in terms of cleanliness. On Monday afternoon, one witnessed the area near Bombay Gymkhana Club full of banana peels. Pedestrians were in danger of breaking a limb, as the intermittent rain, compounded by the discarded fruit waste, had made the ground slippery.

While that may not be practical, one wishes the high court order had included clearing the streets, but before doing so, clean up the site and streets, too. This principle must apply to all and in every walk of life. Inculcate this habit from childhood, where young children are asked to pick up and pack up games and toys they have played with. Youngsters are taught to pick up the plates they have eaten on. Picnickers are told and do pick up the trash they have generated after the revelry.

We often see maidans and other public spaces littered with rubbish after programmes, gatherings, agitations, or performances. It has to be mandatory that people responsible for the trash leave the site clean. This should be ingrained in people and, in fact, part of any public space protocol. This shows adherence to rules, respect for others and responsibility for the place one has used and left behind.

Just like last-mile connectivity, this last clean-up closes the ‘loop' that started when one uses a space. You leave only after cleaning up - this should be every leader's orders to their followers.