Littering, Part Deux

As the lyad increases and the exams inch ever closer the posts dry up.. Anyway a significant 'breakthrough' if I might put it like that in my 'fight' against littering if I might put it like that..

The commute back from college recently has been tiring with the two hours of football it follows and the 15-20 minute wait for the bus at the 8B bus stand. Well on Friday I didn't have to wait, found a nice empty bus waiting for me at the stand so I got my preferred window seat near the door. This is not important. The guy who ended up sitting next to me apparently felt an urge to eat some chips and bought a packet from the guy who sells Roy Co. chips everyday at the Bus stand. This is sort of important. As soon as he opened the packet, thoughts began to race in my head and I started thinking about the politest way to tell the guy ( who seemed good-natured enough ) NOT to throw the packet on the road when he was done with it. So 15 minutes and 4 stoppages later I see him finish the packet and as he is about to throw it ..

Me : Sir, ekta request kortey pari ? Packet ta please rastaye felben na, amake diye din, ami pore fele debo.

Guy : * a blank stare on his face with his left hand still near the window *

Me : Ei packet e diye din, emniteo nongra achhe ( I had my football in that packet )

Guy : "ekhane diye debo?"

Me : Hain.

Guy : * drops it without another word *

Me : Thanks.

Felt good... Hopefully he was freaked out enough to repeat the incident to his folks at home. My folks reckon I was lucky not to get beat up.

End of story, more weirdness later..

Littering

I had the fortune of visiting the US of A in 2004 ( lucky as in I got to go there when things were a bit better than today of course ). The first thing that struck me in the 1 hour drive from the airport to my Aunt's house was the 'Greenness' of the place.. It was like driving through a sea of lush greenery. [ I need to work on my vocabulary and learn good comparisons and stuff but you get the general picture ] Anyway the other thing about most of the places I visited in my month-long stay was the general cleanliness of it all. Roads, parking lots, public places were unbelievably clean ( everything is relative of course, I have been living in Kolkata all my life.. ) Places like Maumee, Ohio had roads which could have been sat on without your clothes getting dirty. It was sometime around that point where I made a vow never to litter, consciously or unconsciously anywhere and prevent everyone I knew from doing so. This has made me sort of unpopular when I am with my friends in certain situations. While eating a roll for example, I prevent everyone around me from throwing pieces of paper on to the street just because "everyone does so". I can proudly claim to have littered just once since 2004 ( I threw a toothpick in the side of the road in Park Street ). My next aim is to pluck up enough courage to tell random strangers off for littering, the guy who sat next to me in the bus ride home for example. After enjoying a good number of 'tele-bhaja's and muri, he promptly proceeded to wipe his hands using the paper 'thonga' and throw it out on the street when he was done. All I could muster was a disapproving glance at him *sigh*. 

So here's to anyone who reads this.. Stop throwing stuff on the roads, or anywhere for that matter. Stop your friends and family from doing so. Only two things can be gained.. a pretty satisfactory feeling and of course, cleaner surroundings.

As a footnote I would like to add that I bring home stuff if I can't find proper places to dispose of them. Frooti, Appy tetra paks, Monginis paper boxes, bus tickets, etc have all found their way to the waste-basket in my kitchen from various parts of Kolkata.