A Barbaric
action, lack of thoughtfulness, no sense of belongingness, has nothing to do
with “illiteracy. In every sense, a good citizen of any nation is the
representative of his or her upbringing. Every citizen is the torchbearer of
his or her culture…
A country’s dignity lies in the way, the
citizens treat its heritage, children, and women. No country in the world which
lacks diverse mutual respect or elementary civic sense is ever reputed.
The nations’ environment has been
invariably progressing at a rapid speed, and it is today breeding more
intelligent beings than ever before. The key concern now is; why can’t 74% of
the literate population avoid maltreatment to/in its own surroundings, and stop
the damage to its heritage before occurrence or while vandalism is in progress?
A home is to a family, as is the nation
to its citizens… The former is more often followed and the latter is ignored
like it’s no one’s affair.
We have since childhood encountered
several defacement acts by our fellow countrymen. We see defacements range from
littered parks to filthy roads, from horribly redesigned sculptures in the
museum to disastrous work of arts done on pavement walls,
from streets used as lavatories, to corners on the roads used as garbage
factories, and now alteration of content on websites and publicly editable
repositories to include nonsensical references, to destruction of public
amenities and infrastructure.
“One for All, and All for One”, until
this thought does not get ingrained in the minds of every individual.., &
citizens do not strongly develop the structure of “Emotional Intelligence”,
& until the mentality does not change from (“I”) to (“We, us, & our”) the struggle
of ratios (Interested in country’s wellbeing
: interested in only my wellbeing) will continue to grow.
I had this
wonderful opportunity about 10 years ago to experience, and probably see just
about clearly, the paintings that depict the many lives of Buddha inside the
beautiful Ajanta caves near Aurangabad. The tiring but yet, an amazing two kilometers
of a steep stretch that I walked during a pleasant October morning, to witness
the finest arts from the 1st & 2nd century BCE, had
brilliant tales to tell, about the eye for detail the sculptors of that era had
for Life & Art. The basalt rocks on which the various births of Buddha were
carved looked like a motion cinema to the eyes of those who loved art. All the
torches that were lit up by the tourists inside each of the 30 dark caves I visited,
was alarming, and it sensitized us to the presence of life in the carved
sculptures.
This was one of the most magnificent and
striking experiences of my life. I had almost forgotten that I was living in
the 20th century only until my ears heard
something very disturbing, and my eyes wanted to track something horrid amidst
the lucid world I thought I was in…..
A group of disinterested young voices
about the art and sculptures inside the cave were whispering about giving wings
to an atrocious motive…
To
listen to something so heinous, was like being kicked by an angry horse in the
middle of a blissful dream in one’s sleep. I instantly wanted to turn around
and give that voice a spanking which he would remember for life…..
Ajanta is one of India’s most cherished
heritage, and it was disheartening to listen to something so ridiculous from a
generation, which is expected to become a respectable representative of its
nation to the world.
The voice
that spoke, was clearly of a teenager more on the latter side of teens. Inside
the dark cave voices were very difficult to be traced by their face. This voice
was certainly with a group of other voices that chuckled in whispers at what he
had silently uttered. The group slyly tried to head out from the cave, and I quietly
followed them in the light of my knowledge and my torch, to ensure I stopped
them and defeated their wicked objective.
The brightness outside the cave
distressed my eyes a little before they adjusted themselves to the environment
outside.
I very fuzzily saw four young boys,
probably the locals, dressed not so modestly, looking very
flashy in bright shirts and tight resident jeans, with thickly greased hair
heading close towards the wall that took a turn towards the cave’s entrance. As
I increased my walking pace and got closer to them, I saw one of them take out
a small piece of chalk from his pocket.
I stood behind to watch what they did,
without their knowledge of my presence.
A few tourists who passed by looked at
them with a lot of discomfort. The guy with the chalk in his hand first drew a
line on the wall with an arrow marking towards the cave’s entrance and wrote
just below it
“Shauchalya” (meaning public lavatory) in Hindi. I got outraged at this point. My rage was followed
by some fear as well. Instantly, I told myself; “do not react! These guys may
be local goons, and it may turn out to be a costly affair for you Deepthi”.
The fear acted in the space between my stimulus
and response, and I changed my approach instantly.
I walked towards them with poise and
conviction, and spoke to them in Hindi inquiring… if they all were residents of
the same place? After learning, that they were from the same place and that they
weren’t as threatening as I thought they could be, I took a slightly bolder
step on a humorous note.
I told them, that I wished to go to
their home. One of them immediately exclaimed, “Why?”
I told them
it would be great fun to draw an arrow with the white chalk on the wall outside
their house and write “Shauchalya”
In a matter
of few seconds, I had put their monster minds to think like humans should!!
I
believe, when you want to bring about a good change, the universe supports your
thoughts & actions. Goodness manifests in the form of the change you
anticipate.
I watched them feel hopeless and ashamed
of their action. While their awkward silence prevailed, I continued to educate
them by telling… “A country’s heritage is the finest dream of a traveller.
Something disturbing like this cannot be a part of the traveller's experience,
especially if the tourist is from a foreign land. It is our duty to respect our
public property and not let down our culture” There was an acute silence after
I had finished saying all this.
As I was talking, I realized that I was
drawing the undue attention of the few tourists passing by and that I should
stop. Just when I did that, a voice erupted in the middle of the awkward
silence. One of the boys said. ”Didi maaf
karna” (Please forgive me in Hindi)
I smiled and told them... “Care for the
national property, just the way you care for your home”
The
next moment I saw this guy rigorously trying to erase & get rid of the
rubbish he had written on the rock wall using his handkerchief.
I was happy to see someone getting
better than their own self in a span of few minutes, and I realized the
importance of being a good citizen, and the importance of getting another
citizen acquainted to the goodness inside them.
Like
I said earlier “One for all and all for one…”
I am proud to say, that I was a reason
for eradicating an act of defacement to my country’s heritage. I wish there was
something I could do about the past damages… but in vain!
To be a good
citizen, one must be naturally inclined towards protecting their country’s
valuable heritage, & property.
The fear of facing legal implications is
a reason; why only hypocrites respect their nation…..
Jai Hind!
Deepthi Musley
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