Whenever I have admired the cleanliness in some countries other than mine and lamented the lack of the same here, many of my friends have jumped in, with the defense that ‘poverty’ is the reason.
Like hell it is! Give me a bleddy break.
The truth is most of my fellow citizens care two hoots about their surroundings. So what if it is this scenic location that makes you catch your breath with its magnificence, and to see which you have traveled all the way from… wherever?! Well-dressed, young, the world at your feet probably. But, when you are done with the plastic water bottle, you throw it oh so casually (and carelessly) into the middle of the sea of beautiful flowers, which almost bring tears to your eyes with their tiny prettiness, and walk away unconcerned.
Tears of frustration intruded into my tears of joy on my recent trip to Tiger Point, Lonavla, when I saw a plastic bottle flying out of nowhere and landing on the flowers even as I was focusing my camera for a shot.
Take a look at the beautiful scene below. Tears of joy. Right?
And now I will zoom out. See the litter? There is more among those flowers,not visible in the picture. That’s reason enough for tears of frustration to intrude.
Yeah, I know what some wisecracks will say. This is nothing. Some places are littered more. As if that is any consolation. In my opinion, they need their heads cracked. Whether it is a tiny toffee wrapper or lots of plastic and paper waste, what lies beneath is the same: total disregard for your surroundings. Such beauty all around, but all that some morons can do is litter and then whroom whroom away on their fancy bikes and luxury cars or even the local tourist bus or car. That is apart from jumping the fence (erected for your own safety) and clicking photos standing at the very edge. My, what bravado!
Now if anyone tells me just once more that it is ‘poverty’ that is the reason for our surroundings being dirty, I will probably bung a red brick at you with intent to injure. This is nothing but utter lack of a civic sense. There is absolutely no pride in the natural/man-made treasures that are ours. I am sure these same people will forward and share posters and stories of patriotism, and glibly talk of love for their country. But when it comes to disposing of a plastic bottle or wrappers ALL of their country is their dustbin. Shame.
Enough about the morons. Take a look at some of the pictures I clicked. The last one, of course, was taken by the Second Born of mine.
There were so many butterflies (I especially saw many Painted Ladies) dancing around even in the noon sun. I wish I had a whole lot more time to spend there. Sigh, maybe another day I will be back amidst this grandeur and of course, click more of the butterflies and the wildflowers too.
©Shail Mohan 2014
Shail's Nest 
What beautiful pictures, but such a shame about the litter that’s visible in some. The really terrible thing is that all those things that people throw away are actually a resource that could be reused or recycled 😦
Yes, indeed. I read some reviews from other travelers on Tripadvisor and some of them seem to have had an even worse experience. How sad for such a beautiful place.
Beautiful scenery. Right about the rubbish. We need our heads examined and behinds kicked. So you saw the ‘Duke’s Nose’ 🙂
You bet about the behinds needing kicks. And what? That was the Duke’s nose? I thought it was yours! 😛
So it is and I am the Dook
You are right. It’s not poverty. It’s lack of awareness and civic sense. In this movie Kaakha Kaakha (a slick police thriller), these 2 super cool people are driving a cool convertible while a catchy song plays in the background. The guy sips Coke from a can and then just TOSSES it onto the street! I watched open mouthed, and then he drives all over the lanes, clearly demonstrating that even the police have no concept of lanes. These are certainly not poor people, if they were, it would be more forgivable.
Your last sentence. Totally agree. As for movies and what they show, aaargh!
It all begins at home. Kids see us littering all over the place they do the same. Great pics of greens and flowers.
The right lessons always begin at home. It’s a beautiful place, I wonder if the pictures do justice to it.
Great pics. Where is this exactly?
I agree with littering. Maybe they should promote a PEACE organization that promotes cleanliness of the environment or like in Singapore, make littering illegal to do as it’s a crime. (no wonder why it’s so clean there).
This is in Lonavla, Pune. A place in the south, Ponmudi, has been made plastic free and the effect is visible to those of us who go there. And yet, you find the odd plastic bottle/cover thrown by visitors but which those in charge are frequently on the lookout for and removing promptly.
Reminds me of an argument i had. We were in costa rica this past feb and enjoying ont he glorious beaches, and green green lush mountains and happened to meet another indian couple ( the only other indians we saw there) , we said hi and since we were on the same train we exchanged greetings and i happened to remark to my husband about the pristine beauty.it was like touching some new never before touched place. and the guy said ‘ oh it’s like this because we the population is so low’ we have such plaes in india but since we have so many people you dont see the beauty. !!! i’m not denying his logic, but i dont agree completely either. just because theres a billion plus people doesnt mean we have to spit and throw trash everywhere.
It comes down to do we have pride in our surrounding or do we simply not care.
you post reminded me of that. i usually get in and argue but the beauty , cleanliness and pristine nature of the place simple didnt warrent that an di just let it go and hung back till they walked on ( on a mission to reach the end first i assume) and felt bad about our attitute.
I agree with you, MR. The pride, that’s what is lacking. We may have billion plus people, but that does not mean we have to deface monuments! Nor does it mean we have to litter the place.
Breathtaking pics, a must visit place.
Have you and Reji packed your bags yet? 🙂
Not just plastic bottles…some useless ones litter beer bottles..that too broken pieces..and some leave der legacy in the form of names written on historical places…morons!!
beautiful pics btw.. 🙂
Oh yes, the scrawling of names. Really! How about a legacy by doing something worthwhile?!
It’s a beautiful place, my pictures haven’t caught half of it 🙂
Have you heard of Kaas Plateau? It is in Satara district. During this period,every year,the Kaas Plateau turns into a valley of flowers. Since the place attracts tourists only during this ( Aug-Sep,me thinks) time of the year,the number of tourists is obviously huge! To maintain the beauty of the place,the authorities have specified a specific path for the tourists to walk and explore the flowers,so that they do not end up tramping on the flower bed. If I am not wrong,if anyone is found littering,they have to pay a hefty fine.
The flowers reminded me of the Kaas plateau 🙂
The last pic is so beautiful 🙂
Yes, i have heard of the place and seen pictures too. It looks beautiful indeed. i am sure without those measures in place the valley of flowers would also have been doomed.
the only reason for uncleanliness is attitude and civic sense, nothing else. I have seen many a places (accessible to only ‘rich’ & ‘affluent people’) which are so dirty that you feel more sorry than sad….
BTW I love the pics, I was there last July and with the mist and the clouds and the drizzle it was a very beautiful place 🙂
Oh, I’d like to go back when it rains. It did rain the two previous days though.
Lack of civic sense, and don’t care attitude is the main reason. It is sad.
Remember in Nirmala High School, Shail…every week one house would have “cleanliness” duties, during which tow kids from that house from every class would hold dustbin in their hands and go around cleaning the school for 15 min? One of the wonderful things NHS taught me, hard way. People lack common sense, it’s not poverty or population, they just care about themselves, bhale hi duniya bhaad mein jaaye.
Lovely pictures there! You should have visited the Jap garden in Pune, it’s nice and the botanical gardens too, you would have loved it. 🙂