“Cleanliness is next to godliness”, a quote used by many but understood by only a few. With an idea to spread awareness and the true understanding of cleanliness among the youth, the students of Jamia Hamdard decided to wield the broom on 3rd October, 2018.
A cleanliness drive was organised by the YUVA committee, a student led organisation in which more than a hundred students participated showing their enthusiasm for the Swachh Bharat campaign. The students were dressed in white, portraying the piousness that lies in the mere act of cleaning your surroundings. The students showed up with posters designed by themselves to showcase our ailing planet and to make sure its voice was heard. It was a representation of how our planet is in jeopardy and with it, all of us. It held a strong message of our responsibility towards keeping the land we live on clean. Quoting Margaret Thatcher, “No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy with a full repairing lease.”
The main purpose of the drive was to make sure everyone knew about the importance and benefits of cleanliness. According to a survey, over 26 million people defecate in the open, owing to the fact that they don’t have access to proper sanitation facilities. Not only this, but India is one of the most polluted countries, mainly because of the lack of proper hygiene and cleanliness. All this calls for immediate attention from everyone to do his or her part for the betterment of the planet and for leading a healthy lifestyle. To address this backdrop, Clean India Mission was introduced in October, 2014 and with it cleanliness drives to create awareness.
The students took a round of the entire college campus shouting slogans like “Clean India, Green India” and explaining the purpose of the drive to everyone around them. They talked about how an unclean environment also acts a barrier to leading a healthy life as it is a breeding ground for disease causing insects and other harmful pathogens. They put forth the true meaning of cleaning which is not only keeping our own house clean but also the roads and paths we walk on, the air we breathe, the rivers and oceans which give life to us and a countless other living beings.
A holistic and ecological view of development was promoted that would help us to fulfil our duty of keeping the planet clean, safe and alive. It is very well put by Wendell Berry that, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children” thus, making us accountable for leaving the coming generation with nothing but barren wasteland.
The very idea of conducting cleanliness drives was promoted and taken forward to different colleges and societies in the hope that they would understand its necessity in this hour of need and take this initiative themselves too.
Last but not the least, Mahatma Gandhi was right in his saying that there is enough for everyone’s need but not for anyone’s greed. It is indeed the time that we put the environment before our selfish behaviour and finally start looking after the planet. We have accept our responsibility because if each of us work their part it would create a big difference. Together we are capable of bringing a change!
