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Malayali’s sense of cleanliness

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Women’s sanitary pads were lying in the front yard as I came out of home this morning to pick up the newspaper from the gate. My brother’s dog, which roams around the houses of all three of us siblings at night, had picked up a waste bundle that someone had dumped on the roadside and brought it to my yard probably to explore it in detail. The dog spread the contents of that plastic bag all over.

I have been living in Kerala for nine years now. One thing that I noticed right from my first days here is the Malayali [people of Kerala who speak Malayalam] hypocrisy. They are very proud of themselves, their culture, language, literature, literacy, cleanliness, multispecialty hospitals even in very small towns, and eradication of poverty.

When it comes to cleanliness, there is a huge irony. The Malayali keeps their surroundings clean by dumping all their waste into some public space like the roadside or the rivers. I live on the roadside and have to deal with this waste too frequently especially since there is a bus-waiting shed just near my gate. Drunkards use the waiting shed for their booze party at night and throw the empty bottles as well as snacks wrappers into my compound. Having got tired of cleaning that area of such waste, I have now started filling that vacant part [it’s full of stones so I can’t plant anything there] with green waste: branches and leaves of trees that I clear occasionally from other parts of my land. This seems to be working. I don’t see empty bottles of brandy and soda there these days. 

Waiting shed

But sanitary pads and other wastes like wrappers and food leftovers continue to be deposited on the roadside. Are women doing this? I don’t know whether gender equality is scaling such heights in the state.

Waste on Roadside 

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Comments

  1. Yamini MacLeanSeptember 29, 2024 at 1:36 PM

    Hari OM
    Oh, a subject upon which I can mount a large soapbox! In all countries, the littering problem has become large...... and it is not always from whence the waste arose. There have been cases here in the UK where it has been the supposed removers of waste who have then not completed the job by going to the approved disposal sites (because that costs money), but instead, going into quieter areas and dropping their stuff along the way. Now there are fines for this so called fly-tipping - but no one to police it. Other situations can be when foxes, cats, or birds raid bins and strew the rubbish i hopes of finding morsels... But I also despair when I see folk who are within a few steps of an authorised bin just toss their empty wrappings onto the ground and drive away... and I know that my sister, who lives by a busy road in Edinburgh, is constantly fighting the detritus that gets dropped or simply blown into her yard. There seems no answer... YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 29, 2024 at 5:55 PM

      I was thinking that Europe has a foolproof system to deal with this problem!

      Delete
  2. Pradeep NairSeptember 29, 2024 at 3:54 PM

    Tomi, this I don't think is a phenomenon unique to Malayalees. It's all over India.
    Cleanliness is all about only how it's in the private space. Like, inside the home or office or buildings. There is no concept of cleanliness of public spaces.
    To be fair to the government, for the first time probably, cleanliness was incorporated as an official policy, with even an inter-state contest for the cleanest city. But it has had no impact on the people who are only happy to throw rubbish anywhere without any second thoughts.
    I don't think this culture will change anytime in the near future.
    Sad!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 29, 2024 at 5:59 PM

      When I was in Delhi, there was an efficient system of waste management. Waste was collected from homes and dumped in appropriate places by certain agencies who had to be paid monthly. Government took care of the rest.

      Here in Kerala's villages, the Panchayats should take up this matter, I think. Plastic waste is being collected now on a monthly basis. Something like that can be done for organic wastes too. Other wastes as well.

      Delete
  3. Liz A.September 30, 2024 at 3:15 AM

    Yikes. People shouldn't be leaving trash just anywhere. Isn't there a place for it to go?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 30, 2024 at 7:30 AM

      I live in the countryside where there's lot of space for waste disposal. I have my own very efficient system which includes incineration, burying, recycling and monthly handover (plastic) to the local systems.

      Delete
  4. Singhal - packaging companyJanuary 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM

    Great blog! I appreciate the insightful information on waste disposal and the importance of quality garbage bags. These bags play a crucial role in managing household and industrial waste efficiently. As a leading Garbage bag supplier In India, we offer durable, eco-friendly options for all waste disposal needs.

    ReplyDelete

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