The President of the United States did it once again! The man who called some countries S**t holes earlier has now called out some countries, including India, for their filth. While the filth is indeed a reality, the tone and the insensitivity of the comment show a high level of ingratitude for the red carpet treatment given him as also his own lack of empathy and the absence of an intellect able to understand and appreciate the why behind the what. Unfortunately, when it comes to the 'dirt and filth' of the developing world, his sentiments and disdain are shared by many in the general population in the US including the so-called the NRIs, the Non-resident Indians, and their American born and groomed children - the latter's ingratitude being for the almost free education the first generation here got in India and helped them move here, and the insensitivity for, and most likely due, the privilege they and their families enjoyed back home for reasons like caste and position. These make it necessary to examine this topic of filth in some detail and with some honesty.
No human being likes to live in filth. The aspirations of peoples for a good life, and a good environment to live in, are the same irrespective of their nationality, color, or whatever. The main differentiators are education, natural resources, wealth, and history - not necessarily in that order of importance. Without basic natural resources, particularly clean water, it is plainly impossible to maintain a high level of cleanliness and good health. You also need a good amount of wealth to pay for even essential things like garbage pick up, street cleaning, and even more for expensive infrastructure like sewer systems and waste disposal and recycling plants.
Ask the people of Flint, Michigan (which is in USA, by the way) if you are in doubt. My friends in America who speak loudly about filth in the so-called Third World have never seen Flint or have gone across the proverbial 'railway track or creek' in many states in the US, nor have they ventured into the poor areas of the large cities of America. They probably have not read about the 'superfund sites' and have probably turned a blind eye to all the pollution and cancer and other diseases-causing filth created by mindless industrial filth here. And, of course, we are blind to how we export filth by moving polluting industries out to other nations. Ever heard of Bhopal, India? But then we are affluent and can do that ignoring the glass house we live in and the bigger tragedy that this happens here too despite the incredible wealth of this nation.
What matters equally is education - not just in school, but as it applies to that elusive thing we learn from the cultural milieu we live in. The state of Kerala in India is a great example. Much of Kerala is very clean - at least the Hindu and educated Christian parts, and that has nothing to do with the wealth of the family. Even the poor keep their homes and their surroundings very clean. Walk across to the muslim sections of Malabar, and you will see a very different thing. (Wow! What a politically incorrect thing to say! But that is a fact that no one can unfortunately ignore. I say this because I believe that the Indian society has to do everything to uplift the muslim population there if the nation is to really progress.)
Filth breeds on itself. It is well-known that depression and filth form a vicious cycle. People who are depressed pay little attention to how clean they and their environment are, and the lack of that cleanliness adds even more to their depression.
Finally, history is an important factor. Many of the developing nations have been plundered for generations by the West, and the filth you see there is the other side of the coin whose better side of cleanliness, better health, greater longevity, etc., we enjoy due to that plunder. In fact, you do not have to go even that far to understand this. Just look at the situation of the African Americans or Native Indians in this country. Much of the filth they have to endure is the result of the history of their exploitation.
So, the next time you or some prep boy or girl complains about filth in the developing nations, please remember the above facts. Understand, think, and speak with empathy and concentrate more on what you can do to improve things even in a small way. This is perhaps the best lesson we can teach our children too. THANK YOU!
