Clean India : Swachhtaa Abhiyaan; at long last, we have a Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, a leader, interested in setting an example, becoming an exemplar to the people by focusing on all the right values : cleanliness, closeness to our culture {Yoga as an example}; he has faults – but let us praise where praise is manifestly due in all fairness. But, that does not mean that this attitude, while setting an exemplar, an example before us, will automatically solve our cleanliness issues, even without the systemic flaws I pointed out in my previous article on this issue: Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Or Clean India - Does It Meet The Problem?
As
I wrote earler, do you really require the Prime Minister of your country to
tell you keep your nation clean? Do you really require to be told to throw
things in dustbins? Do you really require to be told to keep your city clean,
not throw waste outside your home? Do you really need to be told to throw the
waste inside the dustbin, not in its general direction? You dont clutter your
home - then, in that case, if you throw garbage on the road, what does this
behaviour say about you as a person
We
are a nation of 1.28 Billion; setting the example wont do much good. Akela
Chanaa etc etc... We have to get to the core reason behind such behaviour. Why
do people behave the way they do? Why do people take care to keep their home
clean, their office clean, the posh hotels etc clean, but display such crass
behaviour elsewhere? ? What internal value systems are you displaying? What
does it say about your true priorities?
At
the office, it is peer pressure + HR / Disciplinary Action + Boss fear; at home
it is family fear + selfishness + long exposure / stay; at the posh market it
is peer pressure + image etc. What are the core values a person is displaying?
It is certainly not cleanliness, or love for cleanliness, or even ethics. The
values being displayed are Power, Hunger, Image, Presentation, Projection, Self
etc...
A
truly clean person displays the same - precise same - behaviour across all
aspects of life, not a differential behaviour. Values {at least the core
values} dont change as per the situation : if it does, it isnt a value or a
core value of that person. Values are typically rock-steady, and remain
virtually almost unassailable unless challenged by deep philosphical thought,
or disaster etc – or a long sustained period of change : positive or negative.
We dont try and make them decent human being; we dont teach values. It starts
at home. What you see around you is a reflection of your own deeds, and
attitudes.
No
point pointing fingers. People are unclean because parents like you and me have
not taught them this basic human behaviour. That can only mean that our minds
are tainted and unclean. A clean mind, a truly clean mind, sees ethics, values
and cleanliness in every endeavour. If there is duality, as in spoken ethics
{or even provable ethics} combined with a habit of uncleanliness... Change your
attitude towards India, be selfless, view it as your home, and internalise
cleanliness.
Sorry
to be harsh, but the fault is of the parents. Parents should scold or punish
their children for such behaviour; that we dont is a manifest fact. We try and
make them street-smart, we try and make them come first...
What
is happening in these instances? A person is being influenced by external
stimuli which is transient in nature; the moment this stimulus is removed. the
behaviour goes back to the normal. Behaviour is controlled by your value
system; and external stimuli that are transient and short-term have zero impact
on the value system.
Thus,
any recommended solution will perforce have to cater to the problem. The nature
of the positive influencers like the exemplars others looked at above are such
that these are transient temporary influences which lack a long-term impact in
the absence of strong emotive rewards for the desired behaviour; that is why
the impact wanes over time. And that is also why, despite the fact that Values
can change in a sustained exposure, exemplars generally fail to make an impact
all by themselves
By
contrast, fear of punishment, image consciousness, etc negative influences
retain their power for a much longer time after the removal of the stimulus.
That is why the only way is to initiate a strong disincentive towards tardy
behaviour {littering and filth in this case}, driving the subject towards the
desired behaviour : cleanliness.
And
that is why I recommend strong punishments for tardy behavior, as in Singapore.
This can be combined with school {nursery level, KG-1&2 level children and
parent interactions with trainers. And fail the children - even at these
starting levels - if both parents dont turn up for these training sessions
regularly. Disincentives all along the line for adults, and incentives and
freebies and other reinforcers for the children. If you are not clean, there is
no place in society for you is the message that should go across to the people.
Adults
dont need to be reminded or reinforced of the need for cleanliness; that is a
very basic and expected societal norm. Besides, with their value systems being
fully formed, the chances of positive re-inforcers, exemplars etc changing the
core behaviour is precious little. In order that action is initiated from such
recalcitrant people, we need to take a leaf from the errant behaviour :
negative influencers : peer pressure, fear etc which we saw above. These will
be the drivers than will drive the adults to the sessions, namely the certainly
that their child will be failed, for their fault.
Thereafter,
you can use any number of positive influencers that you like, your exemplars
etc. In my opinion, nothing else will work. We have seen exemplars showing
people - I myself have for years being setting examples, with little to show
for it. In my colony, for the past year, some adults have been voluntarily
cleaning the garden, with zero impact. It is still as dirty as it used to be
before the great swachhtaa tamaashaa!
That
is why setting an example will not work; and that is why it hasnt worked till
now. Remember the Aamir Khan Ad? Or recall all those people who do the cleaning
up, and who carry things to the dustbin etc? It hasnt worked because it wont;
not now, not ever.
These
are influencers, and influence behaviour only for the duration of the
experience. Thus, no amount of setting examples is the solution. Values change
only when a person is put through a deep, positive or negative influence that
has the capacity to jar a person from stem to stern. Or they can be formed
during the early years; that is it. The only solution is parent and children
education, and a slow change for the better. Fact of the matter is that the
moral compass of our society is seriously skewed, and that is a fact.
Rest
assured; if a person acts clean in office, malls – but is careless in public
places, that person is almost a charlatan, a con and a put-on. He or she is
wearing a fake garb of ethics. The truly ethical person is ethical in each and
every walk of life, is uncompromising on this basic human value.
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