IN KRISHNA'S LAND

Mathura-Vrindavan I was actually looking forward to this train journey, as it has been a while since I last boarded a train and Shatabdi series are supposed to be the most comfortable of the lot. Since I was late in booking my seat, I had to be satisfied with the normal chair car as against Executive class, which I presume would be better. On boarding the train, I found that my seat was already occupied by some foreigners and had to ask them to vacate. They were initially hesitant but then, one of them moved to the Executive class, which is where he was booked. My co-passenger was a kid in the A level at New York, on his first visit to India. They were jews, but were a lively lot. The kid got talking and was explaining that he had been to Scotland, Canada, Mexico and of course Israel, and how the country side everywhere looked similar. He liked to play Baseball and he loved to pitch and that he probably would grow up to be a lawyer. He then complimented my English and I was sort of nonplussed, whether to take it as a compliment or to take an offence at their perception of the common educated Indian, which is what I think I am. I simply grunted in response. By then Mathura station was approaching and the sight that I dreaded, started to appear, men defecating in the open. We are quite used to seeing it, and are uncomfortable but sitting with a foreigner, it is really embarrassing. One is simply forced to look the other way, pretend these men simply don’t exist. Thankfully he did not probe me on that. I made a quick getaway as soon as I could. While travelling from the railway station, I was lost in my thoughts, wondering as to why can’t we as a nation put an end to this. This punctures all our hollow claims of growth, we can’t provide the basic amenities to our citizens, naturally we have no right to expect them to keep the city clean. Jairam Ramesh recently tried to raise the issue but unfortunately it remained mired in politics. They have no stakes whatsoever and we the stakeholders and conscious-keepers conveniently look the other way, ostrich like refusing to even notice it. We have buried our heads in our self proclaimed growth stories that we have become oblivious to the miseries our fellow countrymen undergo on a daily basis. The scooter rickshaw in front was overloaded, with the conductor cum cleaner actually indulging is some acrobatics to stay on board. Mathura- Vrindavan are venerated by the Hindus the world over, believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna. It is an irony that the only thing missing is the peace and tranquillity which one associates with such places. These towns and the places of worship in general have become cash cows for the locals and they are being milked remorselessly. The towns are dirty with no semblance of sanitation, public hygiene, the roads are narrow, congested, traffic unregulated and chaotic and of course, the cows, omnipresent on Indian streets have to be here too naturally, after all Krishna was a cowherd (gwala). They amble along merrily munching all the trash thrown their way, which is plenty as there are no waste bins anywhere, so naturally all the left overs find their way on to the streets. The bovines on their part retain their gentle spirits and go on with their lives without getting hassled by the fellow travellers. They also leave their imprint with the dung strewn all over. Since I had some time up my sleeve I decided to visit Vrindavan as well. The story was no different here. The same dirt, filth, strewn everywhere. In contrast Vaishno Devi shrine is a lot more orderly and organised, relatively clean with the basic amenities available to all the pilgrims. I wonder why can’t the same model be emulated elsewhere also. Places of worship at least must be spick and span, like the Gurudwaras or churches etc.