We're all downstream

Now that i have not been able to read much on the topic of the effect of including caste in the census, I have put it on the back burner for some time.

In the interim I made a trip to the Shivansamudram waterfalls in Karnataka, approximately 120 kms. from Bangalore. Since I am a child of the desert and have spent my entire childhood and adolescence amongst sand dunes so my fascination for water is somewhat more piquant than what is normally observed. So when i had the first glimpse of the falls which is from a distance my spirits were in a flutter. I couldn't wait to get down and feel the water flowing through my fingers.

I had to be repeatedly told to slow down while running down the stairs, when i finally reached the falls, to say that i was disheartened would be an understatement.
There was plastic strewn all over the place: in the water on the rocks, not to forget the empty cans of beer, empty packets of "Lays and Bingos" which were swimming everywhere in the water. The place was extremely filthy , the only place that appeared immaculate and unpolluted was the falls itself , where people were not allowed due to safety reasons.

Being a vegetarian the sight there was even more despicable to me. The stench of fish being fried was all pervasive, with bones and flesh rife on the floor. Why are we so deplorable and rotten as citizens, even a cat cleans the place where it sits, and we deface it with no scruples at all!!! i just fail to understand why are we so averse to aesthetics? How difficult it is to carry a plastic bag along and dump the waste in it instead of throwing it around. Why can't the local people there not have shops at some distance and maintain a dustbin at least.
A couple of years back i had the chance of visiting Dandeli in northern Karnataka, its a forest area in the northern part of the state on the banks of the River Kali, the water there was so clean that one could actually drink it from the river. The only difference between Dandeli and sivansamudram was: that there was a fee at Dandeli :)

Since we have already proven time and again that we have an irrevocable lackadaisical approach towards civic sense and a completely circumspect attitude towards money it is advisable that we levy a fine on anyone who spoils the place or put a fee on the visit so that it is not taken for gratis and civic authorities can spend the money on its cleanliness.

Alles Liebe
Suyasha

PS: the Photograph was taken where a small stretch of water appeared clean from distance, just a feel good factor.