From Nita Ambanit to Amir Khan all
so-called celebrities are these days wielding jhadoo as never before.
Jhadoo has now become a symbol of socially elite people. Purity and
pollution are two principle features in India's caste system. In this
age-old caste system higher you go cleaner, you are considered.
Moreover, as you see lower in the hierarchy they are considered as
more impure and unclean. According to census of 2011, there are seven
lakh manual scavengers working in India. Most are from so-called
dalit communities. They are hitherto treated as untouchable by
so-called higher castes. Caste system is not just about organizing
society but it is unconscious assimilation of ideas. In India,
cleanliness and purity are not just principles of hygiene but they
determine status of social standing. To this automatically is added
concept of dignity of labor or no dignity of labor. Can you expect a
Brahman to clean sewer? Can you expect a dalit to learn Vedas? Caste
system decides all these things.
At present by one estimate, we find
that approximately 600 million Indians defect in open. Almost one and
an half million workers from dalit, do the job of carrying night soil
on their head. Higher caste people think that there is nothing wrong
in that! Another phenomenon we see is that as caste of lower level
they think that they should indulge in bad habits and remain dirty.
Similarly, person of higher caste is expected to be of good habits
and remain clean. All dirt-cleansing jobs are given automatically to
social pariah and all clean jobs taken up by socially higher castes.
I have seen Brahmans looking with disdain at dalits carrying night
soil on their head as if that is their privilege to laugh at all
those who clean dirt that Brahman has crated! I have also sen some
Brahmans asking their children to keep way from children of those who
clean the dirt they have created! In this way caste differences are
introduced into the tender minds of the children at the very early
state. We should clean that to get other cleanliness.
Toilets are innately dirty by
character of its work. Therefore, cleaning it is also job of a dalit.
While making a toilet dirty is the work of higher castes! This is a
dilemma; we cannot neglect as these two groups of castes stand on two
opposite sides of dirt. This also means, creating dirt is done by
higher caste and cleaning that dirt is done by dalits. When we see
dirt of any type in houses, roads and any other place, we see that it
is largely created by so-called clean people from the society. While
dalits are continuously, busy in their capacity to clean the dirt
that these higher-class people keep making more dirt. For example,
when higher caste person gets off from a train or bus he, unwittingly
though throws the ticket on road, as if it is his right to do it,
expecting that scavenger dalit shall remove it and clean the road.
All these things happen so naturally and by everybody in our country
that we do not think it as any thing abnormal. It is almost part of
our culture. We have to clean this dirt first. Some people think they
are superior and some others think they are inferior. Jains consider
them as superior and Brahman also think they are superior to all;
they call them gods of the earth or Bhudev! Iyars and Iyangars also
think they are superior to all. This mentality is our main dirt. Some
communities think they are inferior for example, scheduled caste
people consider them as inferior and so Dalit. This is also dirt in
the minds of our people. I feel cleaning these complexes is more
important than sweeping brooms on roads. If we could clean this dirt
we will be a clean country. Roads, toilets and such places will get
cleaned automatically because people will not create dirt in the
first place. This I say because all those who think superior are the
people who create dirt.
Then what is the meaning of this
campaign of CLEAN INDIA? I really do not know what Mr. Modi has in
his mind but to my understanding, the time has come for so-called
higher-class societies to learn that they should clean the dirt they
make and should not expect and wait for dalits to come and clean it
for them. For that first they should remove dirt in their minds for
dalits who have been cleaning their dirt all these years.
We see at home mostly, the housewife
(or women folks) in middle class and lower class communities do the
job of cleaning toilets. They are like dalits at home by that. We
never can expect the man of the house to do cleaning of the toilets
at home. Interesting part of this is that in a dalit household also
their toilets are not cleaned by men of the house but by women. By my
understanding of CLEAN INDIA, it is a change in attitude of men at
home that they do the cleaning of toilets and other cleaning work at
home and should not depend or force their housewife or daughters to
do it. We treat women as dalits at home. To stop that and cleansing
be considered as duty of all members of the house should be the
purpose of this campaign. If this we achieve our old system of caste
will be modified and improved. About the status of woman in house as
one Brahman told me is quiet interesting. He said a woman is always
dalit as she neither can learn Vedas, cannot fight in war, cannot do
business to manage economics of society and so what she does is work
of Sudra and so they are essentially dalit at home. Even a wife of
Brahman is dalit at home according to Manusmruti. We have to do
cleansing of all these stupid concepts and so one friend of mine told
me that cleaning out books such as Manusmruti be the first cleansing
job. This is another type of CLEAN INDIA and we have to do first that
cleansing. If we can achieve it, that will automatically reflect in
other types of cleanings.
We see many celebrities holding a
jhadoo and showing that they are contributing to this campaign. I do
not think that is enough. The real dirt cleaning is about cleaning
toilets! How many of these fashionable socialites will be ready to do
that? Concepts, dignity of labor is absent in Indian society. We have
to introduce that as authentic mannerism and stop ridiculing people
who do lower level jobs. If this we achieve I feel we have done half
job of CLEAN INDIA campaign. Can I request Nita Ambani and Amir Khan
to cleanse one of the public toilets in this city by their own hands?
If they can do it, that will be exemplary, not holding a jhadoo on
already clean road. I request these so called great socialites to
stop these fashionable tamasha and do something really effective.
I learned some interesting reactions
from some people who are glued to concept of higher castes; not ready
to do cleaning of dirt they create. One Marwadi executive refused to
remove dirt that he had created and was searching for somebody to do
it for him. I asked him, who cleans his bottom after he finishes
defecting in the toilet? He told me, of course, he does it. How can
any body else can do that for him? He counter questioned. I asked
him; is that not dirty work he does without complaining? He could not
answer and after some thinking, realized that cleaning is not a bad
work but it is the basic work to begin with. I asked him why he feels
shy of removing the dirt that he has created. While creating dirt we
do not feel bad. He replied that he has no grumble in doing that but
he is afraid of society. At toilet, nobody sees him doing what he
does; and so no objection to that. Well, this is what we have to
stop. CLEAN INDIA, if can attain this sense of understanding, I feel
much is achieved by this campaign. One young man in my neighborhood
asks his wife to clean the room by a jhadoo; he adamantly refused to
do that as being work of women in the house if no servant is
available. On this issue there are almost everyday quarrels in that
house. This mindset was introduced in the mind of this man by his
mother during his childhood; that is the qualm. How to clean that
mindset put by their mothers? There are mis-concepts of superiority
and inferiority complexes. Many wrong habits our people have
developed from these complexes. If these complexes are toned up,
INDIA CLEAN up will be easier. Without this change of attitude any
apparent cleaning if done, it is of no real effect. One foreigner
told me that when they come out of a bus they do not throw away the
tickets on road but carry it to their house or office and their it is
dropped in the garbage box. We should learn this from them. If all do
that there will be no dirt on roads. That means cleaning dirt is less
important and avoiding to first create dirt is more important.
Prevention is always better than cure! As we say.
There is a spiritual aspect to doing
cleaning work. If we do not discuss it, I feel we have not touched
all aspects of idea of cleaning India. Mahatma Gandhi used to clean
not grounds of his ashram but he would go to clean toilets at the
ashram. I remember one event, when Nehru was asked to clean toilet by
Gandhi he flatly refused to do it and asked Ambedkar to do it and
laughed at him! These are our leaders. This explains how difficult it
is to remove this mentality. CLEAN INDIA is not so easy as we feel.
In Yoga, they insist that doing such seemingly lowly work is
essential to destroy your ego. By doing such, lowly but essential
work a practitioner of Yoga can curb his excessive ego and that helps
him make great progress in his spiritual career. If we can remove
stigma on work of doing cleaning we will bring cleanliness to India
and not otherwise. Remember cleaning secretly is not recommended in
Yoga practice but you have to do this work right in front of other
people. That helps reduce your ego.
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