KKPKP Dignity Rally on Gandhi Punyatithi

“Kachara amcha maalkicha , nahi konache bapacha” we voiced these slogans with about 200 other women, clad in green saris , proclaiming their right to dignity and work.
On 30th of January 2010 a peaceful rally for reasserting the dignity and recognizing the importance of waste collectors was organized by KKPKP (kagad kach patra kashtkari panchayat). These waste collectors were dressed in green as green is the colour of the conservancy workers’uniform which also symbolizes the unaccountable contribution made by the rag pickers in conserving the city environment.The day chosen for organizing this rally is also significant as it is the day of Gandhi punyatithi. The rally was a non-violent effort to change the public perception about waste pickers and to accent protest against a press note released by The National Society for Clean Cities which calls for a ban on rag pickers, terming them- ‘thieves’, ‘unreliable’ and ‘unaccountable’!.
It was not very surprising to come across such an approach towards the people belonging to the lower social/economic strata. Our caste and class discrimination are not just limited to the rural scene. It is very much a part of popular prejudice even by the “educated” urban society.
In this context for instance our society not only turned a blind eye to the contribution of rag-pickers in ecological and social aspects but also out rightly banished them from being a part of the society and exercising their right to work and dignity by calling them “thieves”! .
Baba Adhav and Mohan Dhariya inaugurated the rally. The rally started after adorning Mahatma Jotiba Phule’s statue with a garland at Pune Municipal Corporation. We started off , the women (waste workers) and other participants raised slogans with pride and conviction towards their work.The rally passed through Shaniwar Wada, Lal Mahal (where the women garlanded the statue of Jijabai), Kasba Ganpati Mangalwar Peth and Sassoon Hospital, throughout the rally the fervor and zeal remained unswerving. The enthusiasm never dipped even for a minute. We eventually reached Pune railway station.
The rally commenced in the form of a sabha which garlanded Mahatma Gandhi’s statue.
Socio club members actively participated in the rally. People from different walks of life participated in the rally with great vigour and sincerity.
This rally was a pronouncement of rejecting the still prevalent unfair and discriminating social norms and perceptions which not only cause disadvantage to a section of society but also handicap the whole system. It gave us a opportunity to be a part of a constructive social change. Above everything else the rally exemplified the urgency to value and recognize the work of rag-pickers.

FIRDAUS . SONI

Visual Media by Akash Deshmukh

Green vs Glamour: Efforts for an Eco-Friendly Ganesh Festival

KKPKP and SWaCH had initiated young student volunteers to persuade the people of Pune to immerse their idols in the water tanks provided by the PMC, and to put the ‘nirmaalya’ in special tanks and ‘kalash’(es). The Nirmalya Recycling Project of SWaCH involved: Collection and segregation of nirmalya into various materials– separating biodegradable from non-biodegradable; Transportation to Yerawada jail for further recycling into dried flower products.

Ganesh pooja to Ganesh festival

Ganesh pooja was an age old practice followed by Hindu families. The religious science prescribes idols made of clay, painted with natural colours, and not more than 1.5 mtrs (4.9 feet) tall. Religion believes that the Sea is the all-accepting spirit, which takes in everything and restores it into its place in the natural order of things. So wastes from sacred rites, like flowers etc are generally left into the sea. The philosophy of seeing God in everything should be interpreted as respecting everything in nature. The festival was made public by the initiatives of Tilak to organize people for a nationalist idea.

In today’s date, Ganesh festival is highly glamorized and commercialized. It’s an opportunity to make a status statement. While Tilak wanted people to unite during Ganesh festivals, the glamorization of the festival has had the exact opposite effect, as people are in a class race of who has the bigger, glossier, more glamorous idol. The purpose behind the community idols was to integrate the communities; today, instead of three chawls coming together for one ganpati, there are five ganpatis in the same chawl.

As Plaster of Paris is cheaper, more convenient and easier to use, it is used instead of religiously prescribed clay. Also, the natural color and limited size have gone for a toss since the Ganesh festival lost its motive.

The theory that sea/river water is all accepting is valid as long as the things being discarded did come from a natural origin to be restored into nature. But with plaster-of-paris, plastic and the likes entering stage, the sea has been at a loss to find a place for them.

On the efforts like these:

1) Volunteers:
Volunteers/Activists/Environmentalists like us want to help in some way to prevent further pollution of our rivers and seas. Hence convincing people on the Visarjan day to immerse their idols in artificial tanks and nirmalya is separate kalashes becomes a way to help. In an effort to save the environment they become ‘against religious practices’ in some eyes.

2) Some Religious Groups:
Religious Groups of some kind tend to think that such eco friendly initiatives are actually a conspiracy against them and their religion. The sensitivity of the issue is highlighted when in the same space, volunteers of religious and environment driven groups, fight for the people’s vote. By vote, I mean the decision to either immerse the idol in the river or the tank.

3) People:
Most people are torn between the two voices of convincing. Most others don’t want to listen out any side and just want to get over with their rituals. So overall, most of the people immerse their idols in the river, but a flicker of thought about what is eco-friendly and what is glamour/insecurity-friendly is clearly visible on most faces.

Conclusion:

Being religious myself, it was difficult to be viewed as an enemy of my own religion. But then I got thinking, about when has religion asked us to dump huge masses of non-biodegradable waste into the sea and kill a million life forms. Neither God, nor scriptures asked us to cause so much harm to nature and her children. And which God would like to be remembered with “Sheela ki Jawani” blaring into his ears (Noise pollution is maximum during Ganesh Festival). Originally, religion and patriotism both aspired for a eco-friendly and all-inclusive Ganesh festival, so I am as religious and patriotic as I am an environmental activist.

Talking and convincing people were the best parts of the experience. It gave a little moment of interaction between fellow citizens, and even if they eventually went to the river to immerse their idols, their momentary look of confusion and helplessness to do anything to save the environment gave me a hope for a better situation.

R Gandhi