Most of us take neat and well-maintained surroundings for granted. But the hard-work that goes into keeping it so must be stupendous. Especially places where a lot of people gather, like resorts. On the last day of my stay at the Tamassa Resort in Bel Ombre, I decided to take a morning walk on the beach and found scores of the resort employees engaged in sweeping the beach, wiping the deck chairs clean etc. They were busy getting everything ready for the guests who’d be waking up soon (some were already up!).
It struck me then how the unseen make the world a better place for us. Agreed, it is their work and they do get paid for it. Still, it is exactly that work which helps us enjoy and relax in clean surroundings. One cannot forget that. One should not forget that. Unfortunately, especially in India, we go out of our way to make things difficult for them. Just because a sweeper comes around daily to clean the streets does not mean we throw rubbish anywhere we please. But the majority think and do just that. I know people who *create* work for the house-help in case there is less to do on a particular day saying, ‘after all we pay them’ (and no such as them can never aspire to be my friends).
I live in a beautiful neighborhood, very close to a reserve forest area. There is a road that goes downhill with trees of the forest bordering the road on one side and houses on the other. It was a dismal sight in recent times finding this road increasingly littered with plastic bags filled with waste of all sort. Unfortunately every neighborhood has quite a few who think paying the waste-collector is a waste, instead they make their own arrangements, desecrating public areas. Shame.
On returning home after a short absence, I found the whole area has been cleaned of waste and plastic, and new young saplings (with protective barriers in place) have been planted on the very side of the road unscrupulous elements were using as an unofficial dumping ground. I could have cried…. with happiness. My thanks to the unseen who made this possible and also to those unseen everywhere who make living that much more easier for all of us.
©Shail Mohan 2017
Shail's Nest 
Let us raise a cheer to those ‘unseen’ and to your tree planters! We have a similar problem in this country with litter and the desecration of open areas that could be places of beauty and peace. Plastic bags are a scourge.
Indeed plastic bags are a scourge. Fortunately, the ban is now in place.
Wow! That’s an awesome thing to do. My salute to the unseen heroes.
Have you moved residence again?
Nope, same place.
Same people who throw plastics on the road here, in our country, are careful not to do so when they go abroad. This mentality doesn’t seem to change.
That is also true, Sandhya.
Respect for the unseen. In India also I have seen them work hard. But instead of keeping their work intact, the first person that comes across the clean area throws stuff there. It’s like we can’t bear the sight of a clean sidewalk on a normal Indian road.