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Beauty and the Beast

Posted on January 10, 2006November 13, 2021

Seshadri likes just one kind of holidays, going to the mountains and walking there a lot. On our recent trip to Hadsar, we walked 12 kilometers evey day, for three days.

I try to protest initially. I crib that I want a resort kind of a holiday once in a while but in the end I almost always find myself on the train/bus with him. I have to, because he has shown a slight tendency to take the train/bus without me. Last year, when I was still employed in one of my jobs from hell, I fell ill just before a vacation and Seshadri took the train/bus alone! All I can say is, he has paid for it many times over. I will not say more because he has a tendency to check my blog occasionally.

So, this time when we took the train first and then various buses, soon we found ourselves looking at a different kind of a high-rise. Lovely, is it not? But you see, I am showing you only a partial picture. Want to see the complete one? Brace yourself and scroll below.


This is how the approach to the Pathankot station looks like, full of plastic. When I clicked my camera, H almost fell off the train. He asked, “Why on earth are you taking this picture?” I told him that because in my own lazy way, I care just a little bit about this earth.

We later walked half way through the Mani Mahesh pilgrimage route that starts at Hadsar. It is a 13 kilometer uphill walking route (one can take a pony too) and we walked 6 km up and 6 km down on the same day. Some of the most beautiful pictures were taken on this route. Those of you who have seen my previous post of this trip and admired the frozen waterfall, it was on the Mani mahesh route. Below is another pleasing view.

And this is not such a pleasing one after all. The pilgrims and others have littered all along the way with abandon- ##@&#%#@#.

And this one is a scene from Bharmour. Lift your head up and you see lofty peaks and snow somewhere high up and look down and you see this. @#$%%**@## is all I can say.

I had a discussion about the same on the India Mike forum. I said, Seshadri and I would take a spare bag (as big as we can manage) and then bring back some of the plastic from the routes we visit in the future. But I am stuck with what to do with it after that? Throw it in the heap above at Bharmour? Even if I bring it all the way to Delhi, what do we do? What happens to the Bharmour heap? I have no answers.

An interesting link was offered at India Mike in this debate.

Why do we Indians have this urge to throw plastic (litter) just about anywhere?

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14 thoughts on “Beauty and the Beast”

  1. Emma says:
    January 10, 2006 at 9:41 am

    I can’t agree with you more. Everytime I see something like this, I get totally angry. And the worse thing is even educated people do not understand how important it is to save Mother Earth. Many a time I have see someone driving a Merc, opening the window and throwing something out on to the road. And trust me, at that moment, I wish I had the power to stop this person, make him get out of the car and pick up the litter and put it back in his own car!Having said that, I have no answers to what one can do. I for one ensure that I do not in anyway add to the litter already available. It doesn’t matter how big or how small the trash is – I keep it with me and ensure that it gets dropped in a trash can eventually. And I make it a point that whoever is with me does the same. Sometimes people think I am weird. But I can live with that. I guess there is only so much one can do, though I wish there was more.I sent you a mail. I hope you received it.

    Reply
  2. witnwisdumb says:
    January 10, 2006 at 12:01 pm

    Yes, this is something that annoys me no end. But here is something interesting: there was a time when my friends used to litter too, but after hearing me rant on and on about this, they have completely stopped. They no longer throw things around, even if it be a tiny little candy wrapper – if they can’t find a dustbin, they take it home with them to dispose it there.It would be a good idea to impose fines or punishments (like cleaning up the entire neighbourhood) for people who throw trash around. In several places, especially wildlife preserves and national parks, such provisions already exist. However, they aren’t enforced strictly enough.

    Reply
  3. Diminutive-Indian says:
    January 10, 2006 at 3:52 pm

    Oh, it looks gross in those pictures. I would be honest, I accept that I have thrown garbage out of train windows many a times, but now I would stop.It reflects very bad on the general condition of our country.

    Reply
  4. kamesh says:
    January 10, 2006 at 6:25 pm

    1) Our very own army has piled up tons of filth on the peaks of siachen.2) Every year mountaineer’s from the four corners of the world climb the peaks of Mount everest just to show that they can conquer mother nature and leave tons of garbage there.3) The French aircraft carrier is now coming to India with god knows how many tons of asbestos in it.4) The blatant abuse of the Ganges, Yamuna etc..5) The exploitation of indiginous people and their lands in the andamans for the sake of modern day tourism.The list like this can go on forever.The thing is we have become impotent and have started to accept the abuse of the environment in the name of Industrialization/Globalisation/Tourism or whatever. The things that we have to ponder are How much part of our education is actually devoted to environment and How much part of that are we implementing in our day to day life. and who the heck is going to pay for this ? WEEEE I guess.We are going to pay for this and are responsible for this because we are buying the bottle of Kingley/bisleri for 15 rupees a liter (equivalent to the price of a liter of milk).We are going to pay for this because we are allowing MNC’s to draw/tap water sources directly from wherever they want and not pay for that precious commodity.P.S : sorry for my poor english and gramatical mistakes. sorry if I have hurt somebody by being blunt.

    Reply
  5. Sumit says:
    January 10, 2006 at 6:56 pm

    Such behavior sucks big time! The sight of a an abandoned plastic wrapper on a trail is such an eyesore.. :(As a kid I used to litter too.. But once I came face to face with this menace.. I was a convert.. People should be sensitized at an early age towards these issues. Policing is not a solution .. Things won’t improve unless teh feeling comes from within..

    Reply
  6. Sumit says:
    January 10, 2006 at 6:59 pm

    And yeah updated ur blog link too.. I had forgotten the login of my blogrolling account..

    Reply
  7. Nonentity says:
    January 10, 2006 at 7:18 pm

    yes. educating is the best way. but i myself have found myself frozen many-a-times when face to face with huge, scary looking aunties. getting easily intimidated is one thing i feel i can overcome by just telling people, “please don’t do that. not here”. am working on it.

    Reply
  8. Anonymous says:
    January 10, 2006 at 11:27 pm

    I beg to differ. y wud u want to generalize indians for throwing garbage everywhere? it happens everywhere..y cant the govt appoint sanitation workers to clean up the rots.when the govt doesnt care, y blame the people? and pl dont write whatever u feel like ranting..try to derive a solution for any ill.thanksGreg

    Reply
  9. Anonymous says:
    January 10, 2006 at 11:29 pm

    pl arrange for a “clean up drive” and invite fellow bloggers for this cause..You can count how many wud turn up !Or contact a NGO for this cause..

    Reply
  10. Deaths Head Roy says:
    January 11, 2006 at 9:51 am

    Firstly, I ask – why “Anon”?? why not generalise (generalize??)?? cause thats what happens – we indians throw garbage anywhere and everywhere we can!! does the govt need to even appoint sanitation workers to clean up the sides of railway tracks – when we know that its the people who throw garbage there?? derive a solution?? we are the solution dude?? ever heard of “We the people” ??

    Reply
  11. Zeon says:
    January 11, 2006 at 10:05 am

    Greg,(Who begged to differ), Please understand that WE are the government and YOU are a part of it. Its you and I who run it (directly or indirectly), only if you and I do our part correctly, we can get everything in place. Lets not blame the govt, Before that please chk, if we are right on our part. Everything will be right as well. Please, lets not blame others, and always do our part well.Thanks,Karthik

    Reply
  12. Akshay says:
    January 11, 2006 at 10:39 am

    SIMPLE ANSWER : NO DUSTBINS

    Reply
  13. Anonymous says:
    January 16, 2006 at 10:56 pm

    Game theory says that if you increase the punishment (or as game theory would say, the cost), less people will attempt the crime. Here in the United States some places have a fine of $500 for littering. Word got around that people had been caught and fined, and after this – no more littering!In my case, one wanders around mountains enough you begin to recognize beauty. And after that you begin to pick up trash rather then putting it there…Thansk for blogging about India -Later -Tgregoryt

    Reply
  14. Mridula says:
    January 18, 2006 at 12:37 pm

    Thanks folks for the debate while I was busy taking classes.Tgregoryt, are you at Epinions? thanks a lot for your perspective. I wish we were better at enforcing fines and all or had better civic sense, after all most indians keep their homes swanky clean.

    Reply

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About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

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