Kiran Verma on his 21,000 km walk clicked pictures of two different cities at the same time on different days and here is what he said.
During my 21,000-kilometer walk, I clicked these two pictures randomly in two different cities and interestingly around the same time on two different days.
The first picture I clicked in Vellore when I was crossing a bridge and found it this clean. When I was in Ahmedabad few weeks ago I saw this bridge and due to its condition, I clicked it.
Now, if you see in terms of GDP, literacy, population, income, ranking etc., Ahmedabad leads in comparison with Vellore. But literacy is completely different from education, people in the south are more “educated” as they understand the value of public property.
Their educated mind gives them a sense of ownership and makes them more responsible toward the public property.
That’s why you will find roads, toilets, schools, and buildings a lot more cleaner anywhere in southern states.
We may criticize our politicians for the bad conditions but do we take good care of the things we have got from our own money?
Before pointing our leaders we need to lead ourselves for a change. Correct me if I am wrong in this post” he ends by saying.
During my 21,000 kms walk, I clicked these two pictures randomly in two different cities and interestingly around the same time of two different days.
The first picture I clicked in Vellore when I was crossing a bridge and found it this clean.
When I was in Ahmedabad few weeks pic.twitter.com/JvjLkzPnal
— Kiran Verma (@VermaKiran) July 15, 2022
Kiran is right in a way, but there are many complicated layers to his pondering which leaves us thinking more about his two pictures.
Kerala in the south is the top highest literate state of India and Tamil Nadu is one of the most literate states in India too. A survey conducted by the Industry body Assocham ranks Tamil Nadu top among Indian states with about 100% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in primary and upper primary education.
However, statistics in Gujarat reveal the literacy rate in Gujarat has seen an upward trend and Gujarat is not all that low in education at 78.03 percent as per the 2011 population census. Of that, male literacy stands at 85.75 percent while female literacy is at 69.68 percent. Of course, the south in most parts is highly educated apart from Andhra Pradesh which tips terribly low in the education scales.
Is it really education or something else wired in a mindset that makes one clean or “unclean”? As Kiran pointed out, Gujarat in terms of GDP, literacy, population, income, and ranking leads in comparison with Vellore and Gujarat also has been invested in heavily, industrially and in other fields opening greater and wider avenues in its favor.
It leaves us to reflect that while education does play a major role in organizing the mind and inculcating a culture of cleanliness, there may be other factors that play a role and one needs to introspect about what really causes citizens to maintain a pristine environment. One believes everything starts at the home with values taught from childhood. This goes way beyond the steps of education starting from the core at home, linked to cultural habits and systemic values being practiced.
