Hello there, litterbug!

Long long ago, so long ago, nobody knows how long ago, our litterbug hero was not so great. He was just a little kid. His parents were taking him out on a walk. After walking a little distance, suddenly our little hero felt the urgent rush to pee. After all the weather was cold. So the poor little thing wanted to return back home. But his lazy parents convinced him that he is only a little kid and he could just pee on the roadside [well well .. they really did not want to walk back all the way]. So he did. While doing, he even saw few grownup uncles sharing the same wall, for the same purpose and realized it was absolutely normal to do so!! Kids do grab things quickly you see!

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After a few years, our litterbug grew up a bit and his family was going out for a vacation. It was his first train journey and he was super excited. When he entered the train, he saw it was littered with peanut shells. Curiously he asked his mom, "Why they don't keep the train clean like their house"? His mom replied, "Beta, it's too big no, they cannot clean it everyday!". He immediately registered that train cannot be cleaned as often and hence it will be dirty. Later his mom opened their food package and everyone had a nice nice food. Later she just parceled all the garbage together and without any thought just threw it out of the train's window. Our young litterbug was worried now. He asked his mom, "Why you didn't put it in the dustbin like in our house?", "What happens if it falls on someone else's house?". His mom immediately shut his mouth saying "Since trains are moving all the time, they don't have dustbins like our house" and "So what if it falls on someone else's house? they will clean it anyway no! You keep quiet!". What to do, our young litterbug immediately registered in his mind that perhaps this is the way it should be done! Oh boy .. !!

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Later one day our young litterbug noticed his mom complaining and frantically cleaning their compound wall. He was curious why! So he asked his mom "Is there any festival coming? Why are you cleaning the compound walls?". "No festival beta, someone spray painted our wall full of pan stains" replied his mom. "But then papa also does the same no?" he asked. "Shut up! he doesn't spoil OUR compound wall like this. This is some other moron!" replied the mom. Oh so .. spitting on someone else's wall is acceptable thought our litterbug!

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Another day, during his school outing to a local monument in the city, our teen litterbug noticed a few uncles scratching on the monument walls. Drawing some heart heart thing and writing their names. Our curious little teen asked those uncles what they were doing? Those local romeos replied "Bacche, you won't understand now! We are writing our name with our girl friend's name on the wall and heart means LOVE!!". Our teen litterbug was confused! He immediately asked "But why are you writing here?". Those kids drove our teenager away saying, "that's how it is done and in the future it will stand as a symbol of their true love!!". Though completely confused, he just registered that thought in his mind!

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Many years later, while walking on the road, he noticed the lazy next door aunty dumping the trash outside the trash can which was overflowing. Our litterbug didn't understand why! But then aunty said, "It's ok beta, the cleaner will clean it anyway!". "Oh ok" thought our litterbug.

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Later that day he even noticed a educated looking, stylish, business man in his rich rich car throw a cigarette pack out of his window but wait, our litterbug is now grown and is smart. He already knows, moving car cannot have a dustbin and so it was absolutely fine to throw the garbage out! Smartly matching the patterns no?

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Finally our little litterbug is a well grownup adult now. He knows all the social values properly. He is sure to handle our society at ease! Now watch our grownup litterbug in action in this video!! Doesn't he strictly adhere to all the social values taught by his family and society!!? In case you doubt, HE IS ..


Wait, don't complain him. He is innocent. He was only taught and brought up like that!! Without any forethought, he thinks that is the right way to do. You know whom to blame now!!

Check out more such interesting people and stories of them at the Great Indian Litterbug campaign by Times of India! If you know of a great Indian litterbug in your locality, do share a thought there!

Old-school is a safer bet for now

We live in a highly hypocritical society. Talking about Sex in the public is considered uncultured and shame while the same is considered holy and tasteful when portrayed through statues of gods in our temples. We talk in length about equal social rights and status for our women in the society yet the term chastity is only pinned to our women. Our youngsters consider it socially inept if one is not open to the idea of love, partying and sex but they strictly want their partners through marriage to be homely, family caring and virgin. I can go on, as there is no end to this list. But all this mean one thing - we are big time hypocrites! We don't live the way we preach. We live old school, fearing to the rules (good or bad) set by our society but still want to look cool and contemporary in front of the same society! Confusing isn't it? It's because we are those four members of the society, who fear for the four members and maintain a false social image. Well .. 'Chaar Log Kya Kahenge?' :)


Currently our country is going through a phase which is more like a person with split personality. On one side are the strong rooted people who still go with the age old thought of religion, faith and culture that binds them and gives them their highly respectable social rank in the society. The other side is the young India that wants to feel liberated from all these unproven social formulas.

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Thanks to the economic development that our country has seen in the last couple of decades, many youngsters are forced to come out of their family circle very young, for the sake of career. Many leave their family to lead an individual life as early as their end of teens. Education and jobs take them to a totally different culture, forcibly mixes them with people of different social mentalities. With quick money coming from their highly paid jobs, many are even economically liberated to pursue their own thoughts. In all these, the only thing that is considered important to them is 'going with the trend' so as not to be labelled as 'old school'. Here is where the clash of ideologies begin. But seemingly so far, more often than not the side that ranks 'faith and culture' on the top seems to win over the side that ranks 'things in-vogue'!

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In this current situation, it is too difficult for our confused young India to blindly go with everything they want and turn it on the society as 'acceptable'. It is exactly at this juncture we stand, when we discuss about the topic of 'Pre-Marital Sex'! With the highly accepted and proven current trend of 'marriage-love/like-sex' on one side, young India that wants everything too quick in their life right from job to healthy money to luxurious house and car, is rooting more towards the experimental western idea of quick 'love-sex-marriage' trend and wants our society to accept this trend. As expected there is a clash in mentalities!

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As Humans, we have been evolving for centuries. Our our way of living, practices and culture, everything has been changing for good. At each point of time, society analyses the practices they follow and go with what is proving beneficial for them in majority. The same holds good with this topic as well. If we clearly analyze India at this point, we are a society of religion fearing people more than commitment fearing. There is no religion in this country at this point that accepts the idea of experimental 'love-sex-marriage' trend. With this new trend entirely based on the confidence driven by the commitment between the interested parties, it is at a perfect risk of being broken with no support from the society! Also there is no back-up for the party that is at the loose end. This can be tragic to the society as a whole.

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Our country was facing a similar dilemma a decade ago - Whether to accept the 'then vogue' trend of love marriage with the widely accepted and proven 'arranged' marriage still in picture. Today more and more people are comfortable with love marriages as they have seen no hit for both the parties. There is 'no irrevocable physical' factor involved and they can safely decide to say 'No' any time before the marriage. It is this flexibility that the society saw as non-damaging. But the same is not true for the currently tending 'Pre-Marital Sex'. There is more lust attached to it than love. There is a 'physical' factor involved and people at the weaker end of it, especially women are at sheer danger if the commitment is broken (for the very fear of society) without records! Society on the whole is not bound to accept such ideologies with its known weaker links and without proper support from law. Though from the side of young India, I will go old-school at this time not to accept this trend for the same reason!

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But yes, this is just my take on this topic. Read Poonaam Uppal's take on it with her story scripted in the enchanted land of magic and miracles and discover where the true love is!! :) You can get the book Poonaam Uppal's True Love - A Mystical True Love Story on Flipkart (http://www.flipkart.com/passionaate-gospel-true-love-mystical-story/p/itmd9ybcf9qm7sca?pid=9788192105109&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=poonaam+uppal+&ref=665a3878-5c80-4a50-b0a3-c20af207cfd7).

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PS: This blog post was written as part of IndiBogger topic "YES or NO to Pre-Marital Sex"

Safety doesn't happen by accident!

You wake up from your bed in the morning - positively wishing it to be a great day! You prepare a refreshing cup of chai and sit down to read the newspaper. Now imagine being greeted by such horrifying pictures that make it to the headlines more often than not these days!

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It is sure to create some negative energy that will linger around through out the day. Newspapers don't put them there intentionally to spoil their reader's mood early in the morning but they want to highlight the horrifying reality of accidents and meager safety standards we follow in our daily life! Few take it seriously by considering it a warning and reminder of safety standards to follow but a majority sadly ignore them as if they are staged images!

India's economy is growing steadily and so is the standard of living. Now even a lower middle class person can afford to buy a two-wheeler and upper middle class a four-wheeler. With this current and potentially-expected-to-multiply kind of scenario, do we have enough co-ordination between the government that provides infrastructure for our roads, people who drive the vehicles and the manufacturers who make the vehicles? The answer is a big 'No'. Everyone is running in their own direction in search of money, leaving other's safety and life at stake :(

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Being a four-wheeler owner myself, I can very well relate to situation on the roads today. The place I live was nothing more than a village just a decade ago. Now due to Hitech boom, inflow of people have multiplied and so are the number of four-wheeler & two-wheeler users on the road. First of all is the road equipped to handle this sudden surge of vehicles? A big 'No'. Result - 'Complete Chaos'. Peak traffic time commute is a hell. It inevitably leads to reckless driving and hence accidents! This one is to be blamed on the Government! Why provide license to so many vehicles when the infrastructure doesn't support them at first place? Well, it's the money they get out of road tax from each vehicle owner that lure them into brainless issuance of approval!

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Instead of acting immature, our government should concentrate on building infrastructure for effective mass-public-commute and generate income from that. Once efficient public commute is in place, tax on private vehicles should be increased in such a way that not everyone can afford them. Yes, it certainly brings down the luxury that we have today but will definitely shift our attention towards public-commute options! This will automatically reduce the load on our roads and streamline the traffic and fuel usage on the whole.

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Along with it, government should take strict steps towards enforcing speed limits. In fact current speed limits can be brought down further for safe handling of our chaotic traffic. Those who break the speed limit should be fined very heavily and given a immediate training on driving cautiously.

Well, you are wrong if you think this is yet another blog-post blaming government!! This is just one part. When government is responsible for providing infrastructure, citizens are equally responsible for utilizing them responsibly to their advantage!

When government provides good roads for effective connectivity, it should not be taken as a license for speedy driving. When traffic lights are provided to decongest traffic, we should realize it should be respected. Instead of taking it to their advantage, people just panic and make every futile effort to clear it before it turns red.

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When speed limits and other rules are marked, it should be respected and followed. Most prominent of them being wearing Helmet (it is said wear helmet or be ready for hell-met!) or wearing seat-belt.

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When it is advised not to involve in drunken driving, it should not be cheated by drinking partially to drive! When you want to enjoy, why enjoy partially? Drink to your heart's content and take a cab back home. Everyone is safe and happy that way!


and yes, it takes just self-realization more than advise or rules to avoid using mobile phones while driving!!


Most accidents happen due to citizens not having proper education on driving. Driving schools should not consider 'teaching driving' as a process of minting money. They should really equip their learners with all the skills required for driving safely. Today half the drivers don't understand how risky it is to switch lanes without indicators (well, most of them don't even have them) and why drive with full beam? If only they were taught about it, today we don't have to face this situation. On the same lines, the procedure for attaining license should be made very stringent. Driving tests should seriously test the drivers skills both theoretically and practically without having any influence of middle-men. This will automatically put responsible drivers on the road, avoiding cheating and bribery later to escape the bad situation!

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Lessons on road safety should be made a part of curriculum to impart necessary knowledge on safety guidelines from the early age. Today most youngsters (even before reaching minimum age for driving) enjoy speed without following proper safety guidelines without understanding - "Speed thrills but kills"! This should JUST STOP!!

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On a fantastic move today CBSE board has announced its intentions of introducing a new course on road safety in its curriculum. Hope this reaches the young generation fast!

Now, finally coming to the vehicle manufacturers, instead of thinking as an attractive mass-market to make profits, they should think about producing quality vehicles. Recently two big brands failed even the basic safety regulation tests! With improving technology, they can do research to provide built-in safety measures like not allowing the vehicles to speed more than designated speeds. Automatically reducing the speed depending on the gap between vehicles, Not allowing the vehicles to start without helmet or seat-belt etc. Even though drivers are expected to take care of few things for their own safety, mandating it via technology will doubly ensure their safety on the roads.

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The Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., conducts the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in India as part of its safety driving promotion activities. As part of its 'Blue Citizenship' global social responsibility platform, it addresses various issues that affect road users, including fatalities on the road. To know more about their promotion activity, click here (https://www.nissan.in/innovation/NSDF.html). It is always good to know about safety practices and prevent any undue incidents instead of getting hurt and looking for cure. If you are around in one of the cities where this program is being conducted this year (Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Vadodara, Nagpur, Chennai, Mangalore and Kochi), do take sometime to participate and benefit from this program.

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Towards Clean India

It was October mid. Hardly a couple of weeks after our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji officially launched "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" (Clean India Mission) campaign. Whole Indian media was abuzz with term "Swachh Bharat".  Since it was also the time of the year when our office usually celebrates the "Season of Volunteering", few of us decided to volunteer towards cleaning a lake in our office locality and also remove plastics from the surrounding road to raise awareness about cleanliness.

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On the specific day when I arrived at the spot and started picking those countless plastic carry bags, snack covers, chocolate covers, pan parag covers, cigarette packs etc etc strewn carelessly on the road, I grew a special respect for municipal workers who handle this task day-in and day-out to keep our city clean. It was so difficult for me to do it continuously without sweating and cribbing about those who threw them carelessly. At the same time there was not a single moment when a passerby wouldn't give me a strange stare or develop guts to ask me why I am even bothered when municipal workers are paid to do that task!

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Why am I not surprised? Because it is the India I know and very familiar with. Even after all the education about cleanliness and its importance, for us, cleanliness rightly begins at home but sadly ends right after it reaches our doorstep. Beyond that it doesn't matter whether it is clean or shabby. It is the duty of some government appointed person from municipality to keep it clean. If that does not happen properly we will complain, crib, gossip but not take any corrective step towards it. We are Indians and we have been like that for generations. My dear readers, at this point I would like you to watch this wonderful Tedx video on the topic "Why is India so filthy?"


I am sure, after watching this video now you know what is blocking us Indians from getting past the cleanliness problems?

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Yes, it is just our 'attitude'! It only takes a little bend to our ego to extend the cleanliness of our homes to the streets where we live, for a healthy society!!

While cleanliness takes one important side of the coin, sanitation and hygiene takes an important other side!

I was traveling in a local train in Chennai yesterday. The train was passing through a slum and there was an unbearable smell of human excreta from outside. Like programmed robots, people just covered their nose with hand kerchiefs and controlled their breath for a while. And as the train went to a safe-breathing zone, they uncovered their noses and carried on as if nothing happened. Not just Chennai, this is a common scene everywhere in India. Owing to increasing city population, there is an acute strain on urban resources contributing to sanitation problems. People suffer but still live with it blaming it on their poverty, hardly knowing that it is accepting this miserable life is what making them even poorer and falling to this vicious circle.

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Open defecation has become such a common scene in our country that it has sadly become an acceptable menace in our society! By allowing this, we are silently polluting our land and water resources. Lack of toilets is killing children by making them prone to diseases like diarrhea and bacterial infections. Treating children affected by these diseases will only drain the affected family even more. Women are worse affected with verbal and physical assault when they try to use the open spaces for defecation. Needless to mention the trouble the women with menstrual problems go through without proper access to toilets. Girl children even go the extent of dropping out from schools and colleges for not having good toilet facilities, severely hampering their education and potential earning prospective of the family in the future. Just goes on to show the bigger picture of how the development of our country is hampered in the long time for not addressing a common problem!

We can make a huge difference in the lives of millions by teaching people about both public and personal hygiene and its impact on their health. It is that without this education people are accepting their situation as their way of life and falling further for it.

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On the public hygiene front, we should educate people to keep their surroundings clean from filth and avoid littering in the public places. When need arises we should not fail to speak up against those who fail to follow this practice!

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On the personal hygiene front, people can be be educated to keep themselves clean by bathing daily, wearing clean clothing and washing hands with clean soap and water to avoid infections. This will go a long way in avoiding diseases.

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It is high time we care about our society like we care about our family, if we dream of a clean and healthy, developing India!! RB and NDTV have partnered to launch "Dettol – Banega Swachh India" program to address this very rising need in our country. This campaign will aim at creating awareness about the importance of hygiene and sanitation, and also work with NGO partners to support infrastructure for construction and maintenance of toilets. It is such a wonderful initiative from NDTV taking India closer to what we all dream of.

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Read more about this campaign here [http://swachhindia.ndtv.com/] and contribute your best to make this a successful collective initiative!

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With positive mindset and willingness to move towards better sanitation and hygienic living conditions, I am SURE our country will slowly progress towards being clean, healthy and developed country!! I am ready to march towards SWACHH INDIA, are you? :)

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Give opportunity, not sympathy!

Today, December 3rd is "International Day of Persons with Disabilities". According to United Nations (UN), the observance of the day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

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Recently I had an opportunity to visit a school for visually impaired as part of social volunteering activity. The orientation talk given by one of the administrative heads was an 'eye opener' ironically! He was proud to mention how the blind students are performing well in the society and doing good in top roles second to none. I am sure it is the same case for people with other disabilities as well.

It is about time we break our stereotypical prejudice against people with disabilities and start recognizing them as 'differently-abled'. We need to provide them with opportunities instead of sympathy, appreciate their efforts and give them the dignity they deserve in this society!

Not SYMPATHY, they need OPPORTUNITIES to fulfill their dreams!

Speak out, when and where it matters!

"Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth." 

~ William Faulkner

With this meaningful quote, I would like to introduce my readers to this new campaign by Strepsils called "AbMontuBolega". This campaign resonates the importance of "Voicing Out" our opinion when and where it matters! Yes, we have all read "Silence is golden" but that is not always true. Words that are not spoken loud at the right moment totally loses its worth whereas the right words spoken at the right moment is as beautiful as gold apples in a silver bowl! This campaign motivates people to open up and speak out loud against injustice done to them or to the society around them! Watch this video for starters.


We Indians are sadly trained for tolerance knowingly or unknowingly! We tolerate people urinating in our compound wall, someone drinking and making ruckus in the neighborhood. We don't take a single word against that rowdy collecting money illegally from the poor farmer selling vegetables or trying to molest a girl in the public etc etc. We have always been silent spectators! We like to just 'circle around and watch' things as they unravel. Why? We fear 'them', we don't want to mess with 'them', we are just common public, we don't have time and energy to fight them! Our system has been like this for ages now. Nobody wants a change and people who didn't want this change to happen in our society have already taken this to their advantage!

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If we need to blame someone for this situation, it is us and our wrongly developed tolerance for the injustice happening to us, right in front of our eyes. Why do we want that special 'someone' with superpowers to appear from somewhere and fight for us while we happily sit inside our air-conditioned house and continue to blame our system comfortably? Why are we still driven by the ideologies that our movies feeds us? Why don't we realize the reality is very different?

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Well unlike movies where there is a Hero like robin-hood who suddenly raise into power, fight against injustice and free public from their problems, in reality everyone needs to be a hero who voices against injustice and work together for a change that they want to see in the society! With the kind of rigid system we have already developed, this change is not possible until everyone makes their first move towards it before expecting others to cooperate and follow.

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Tomorrow when you notice someone littering the road, feel free to make them realize it is wrong and show them the direction towards the dust-bin! If you notice someone smoking in the public, make them realize none of the others are wishing to die of cancer. If you notice someone sexually abusing someone, try to stand out and fight against it. Boldly say NO to child labor and deny drinking tea from the tea stall or taking food from the hotel that employs child labor. Follow the traffic rules and make sure not to tolerate anyone who is trying to break the rules. Feel free to voice out your opinion when you know you are right! Let the public notice you. May you appear odd man out but don't feel shy about it. Remember heroes in the movie don't stand in the crowd and speak, they always take their first step out for them to be noticed as a "Hero"!

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So stand out and voice out like a Hero. The right time is here, waiting and complaining will not take us anywhere near the change we all dream about! Visit http://www.abmontubolega.com/ for more information about this campaign (#AbMontuBolega) and make sure to join them on Facebook and Twitter to voice out your opinion and most importantly BE HEARD!

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