हम जब भी मिले, लोगों से घिरे मिले
पर, आज सन्नाटा और अथाह वक्त का सागर
अचानक से आज मिलों की दूरियां
सिमट के कुछ कदमों तक आ गई हैं।
खिड़कियों से आती हवाओं ने
उनके बालों को चहरे पर लटका दिया है,
और उनके पास से आ रहे खुशबू से
सारा कमरा महक रहा है।
घड़ी की टिक-टिक
दिल की धड़कनों से ताल मिलाते हुए
कदमताल कर रही हैं।
कमरा धीरे-धीरे फूलों के
बागीचे जैसा महसूस हो रहा है।
हम पहली बार एकांत में मिल रहे है।
"Cleanness" word strikes a very clear picture of a clean and well-maintained area but, what if I have to clean the place? Especially outside my house. This is the question I never thought about in my life. How can I clean outside my house? There are people assigned for the cleanness drive and they get paid also so, why I should join? These are the few questions that I always encountered whenever I talked to myself about cleanness.
Today I did this. Yes, the cleanness drive, organized by the NGO BHUMI and, the place chosen was GANDHI MAIDAN. Before entering the Gandhi Madain I was thinking of packets of chips and kurkure and biscuits wrappers that I am going to collect but, I was shocked when I found mostly means 90% packets of gutka and rajnigandha, cigarettes, panbahar and so on. I do not know the people of my city. I literally do not. And I realized it today. The waste that I collected today showed the people that used to visit the place. I am not saying there are not good people but I have thought of the world as a much cleaner place.
In the beginning two boys came and said -"Aap ye kyu kr rahe hai laeye hum kar dete hai".
I said - "Aaj mera kaam hai mujhe karne degeye , thank you".
I am happy they asked.
Reading something is easy and doing it practically is difficult. Let me tell you it's more difficult.
When I have collected the torn packets around the benches and moved on, a man spit in front of me. I didn't say anything. But yes I was not expecting this. Some helped us, some turned their faces, some said they are from school for some task. There were a few boys who were laughing. I don't know where the youth are going and especially in Bihar. Maybe I was feeling uncomfortable because I was not prepared for those expressions and weird gestures.
There was a sweet little girl who gave me a burned firecracker and said - "De ye udhar tha".
There was one little boy also named Sunny who helped us throughout the drive. He was sweet. His smile was a gem. God bless him.
With all the sweet and sour memories that I have made the one thing, I will remember in my life is to not feel demotivated and uncomfortable. Even the small step makes the difference.
(We have collected around 32 kgs of wastes.)
CHANGE IS A PROCESS, NOT AN EVENT.
