Plastic Plastic every where but nobody to care...

Indians had never been good at "waste management" - atleast not that I know of. And when it comes to littering, it just does not matter what is littered. Whatever litter I see around, is (coincidentally maybe) mostly non-biodegradable waste. If it should not be in the hand, well what the hell do we have the roads for? Its actually a wonder why people just don’t want to hold it for a few minutes to find a dust bin. Honestly, it is not going to hurt much to hunt for a dustbin. But when it comes to blaming the corporation, we can talk for at least 12 hours with breaks only for leaks. Sometime back, news was making rounds that even human waste (not s$%@t, but human body parts from various government hospitals!!) was actually littered around. Hmm… Interesting hunting ground for scavengers uh??

Anyway, from today (atleast), I will do my best to make sure I don’t contribute to the "waste" generated in Chennai. Well, if atleast 50,000 people in this city "try their best", I guess talks about job cuts would be doing rounds not just in the corporate sector, but in the Chennai corporation too.

A habit called discipline..

We know the Indian political system is corrupt. The government machinery has not been oiled since 1894. And we always complain about all these. And of course, many of us feel strongly that we deserve a better deal. But do we??? Honestly - I feel we don’t. For starters - let me try to think of very simple things we can do - and regularly too - but somehow don’t bother.

1. Don’t jump lanes in traffic - hey the motorist next to you is a human. Why the hell do we want add to the chaos.
2. Don’t criss-cross the road while turning. Hey, we definitely don’t want to scare others do we?
3. Don’t jump signal. Again why the hell do you want to add to chaos?
4. If you are caught breaking any traffic rule - get down and ask for what the fine is and also ask for a recipt. I'm pretty sure a minor traffic violation would not cost us more than 200 bucks. Don’t start the “I’m the son of a gun” thing all over again.

If above all this (and of course assuming you are not part of some bigger violation) – you are still caught by the cops and asked for a bribe, you can at best request (you can obviously demand – but the author is not responsible for consequences) for a damn reason. Any interesting “reason” from a cop is most welcome.

5. Try to be sensitive to littering around us. At least try to be sensitive to non-biodegradable stuff like plastic. Either demand a dustbin or buy one if you find it missing in a place it should be.
6. Try to find out all documents needed to get a “job” done through a government interface. This gives you a great flexibility in bargaining over the bribe amount. Trust me, this in no way nullifies what we need to pay “under the table”. I have had two such experiences – more about it later.
7. Probably the best service you can do to our community – exercise your franchise irrespective of the level of election.

And hey – don’t take me for a saint trying to spread my gyan. Of the list above – I hardly do even one. But come to think of it, if we try to do atleast some of these regularly, we reduce reasons for bribe greatly. And the spiral just goes along.