Ineffective deterrents

Couple of days back, I saw the lady coming out from her house. To hand over the garbage bag to the corporation worker, who had started collecting it from door to door. Her right thumb and forefinger were busy, tightly holding her own nose. Her left thumb and forefinger were barely used to keep the bag intact in her hand 3 feet away from her body. And she threw the bag into the worker’s hands by standing almost 10 feet away from him.

Of course, the worker was dirty. His vehicle was full of filth collected from other houses. Obviously, that whole mess was not his problem. I am not saying that clean lady should go very close to him and his vehicle and get a feel for it. I am not saying she should attempt to throw a pair of clean clothes to him, which he can use next day – though it is possible for her. All I am saying is try not to over-react to the situation. No way, her such behaviour will become a deterrent to shabby looks of the worker. And to expect that he will arrive from tomorrow onwards in three piece suit, Nike shoes, wearing Titan watch in an air-conditioned Volvo carrier vehicle. He is least bothered about his appearance or the filth he carries, which is not at all his creation. He is only worried about his daily wages, which are peanuts for you and me. At least give respect to him and his profession.

Today, I saw a large group of garbage clearing workers sitting on the road side. I thought, they were on strike, assembled to protest against something. When I reached closer, I found all of them well dressed, neat and tidy. Then I saw all their vehicles parked in line, after giving a good wash. Sandal paste applied on the body, decorated with flower garlands. I realised that they assembled near the Hanuman temple by the side, doing pooja for their vehicles. They would have postponed the ritual by couple of days from the usual day of the year, so that their not-so-neat appearance would not become deterrent to the well-groomed normal citizens. I salute the person who took this initiative to have this pooja done, provide the workers with new clothes, sweets and other goodies. Who knows, the sandalwood  smell, the fragrance emanating from the temple, that nice ambience would remind them of the good environment they could have. Who knows, that might make them demand more sophisticated means and mechanisms to make their job much tidier?

I am an active user of whatsApp. I am yet to find an effective deterrent to the over-usage of it! Yesterday in whatsApp one of my friends forwarded me an article which starts with the statement “Are you a smoker then read on?”. I am pretty sure a non-smoker will enjoy reading it more than a smoker will. It talks about all ill effects and health hazards of smoking. And, how it kills people. As if no smoker is aware of these dangers. I am not sure how effective this will work as a deterrent. Instead the article should list out things that one can do to help him/her quit smoking. When there is an urge for smoking – go for a stroll in a nearby park with full of trees which always emit quality oxygen – or go into an air-conditioned super market and scout around for poison-free fruits or vegetables – or if one wants to be indoor, then try to be a bit more romantic to your partner – or seek medical help to quit smoking. I am not saying here that one should smoke, no. I am also not saying one should get killed, no, that is not in my hands. And definitely not by my hands.

Do I feel like killing somebody in the neighborhood by my own hands? Yes, at times. Could be because of the way they behave. Could be they are too selfish and they don’t care about others. Could be that I simply don’t like their faces! But I don’t kill them. Not because I don’t know the easy ways to kill somebody, I do spend quality time in reading newspaper and watching TV. Not because I don’t have the courage to kill somebody, the actions of some of these morons are such that, it can bring my rage to such extreme levels which can make me sufficiently brave. It is just because that’s the way I am brought up, that is the value system I believe in. Killing somebody is not a solution to the problem. That is why I haven’t killed somebody so far. Not because I am worried that if I commit that crime, the legal system will punish me by hanging until death which is supposed to be deterrent to my crime. That is least of my worries, when I touch that boiling point.

So don’t smoke, don’t generate more waste, don’t kill anybody – if you can’t resist doing these, at least support the cause to create an environment that would reduce these ills in the society. While doing so don’t assume deterrents alone will help that cause.