Skip to main content

The blight of social responsibility

Back again after a long time...I felt compelled to write

Write about the big images the words 'social responsibility' conjure up in the minds of people. You think of this big company out to do social good in whatever small way they can.

Right! I agree completely.

But what happens when the product of that very company is littered all over a virginal landscape?
Should the company also not educate you and me on how to best dispose the trash that they are helping us in creating?
Sounds muddled? Let me give you an example...

I visited Kashmir recently...and its everything the poets make it out to be...heaven on earth.
Life is definitely returning to normal for the average Kashmiri and Srinagar is beginning to assume the hues of a tourist town. We were lucky to see it a little unspoiled having gone in the off season. The winter harshness gives it a stark unparralleled beauty, all its own.

From Srinagar, we went further up to Gulmarg. Climbing up to its highest accesible point (13500 feet) you can see the Himalayan range in all its splendour.
You look at K2 and the Harmukh and innumerable other unnamed mountains...breathe in the biting cold fresh air...get lost in the majesty of nature...and walk forward to get lost in it all.

AND SUDDENLY...your feet go scrunch on something...you look down and realise that you have walked onto an empty chips packet. IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!

Are we fair in littering this virginal landscape? Is the man/woman/child who buys that packet for a measly Rs. 10/- even aware of the word 'littering'?
Is it not then the 'social responsibility' off the company to bring about this awareness. A do not litter sign on that self same packet hardly makes a silent shout for this cause.
When are we as literate, socially conscious citizens going to make the companies aware?

Is anybody listening?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Almost a year

There is this strong independent woman inside me, who sometimes feels it to be unreal. I have a full life, contributing to the society, doing my own bit. Can drive, cook, do basic first aid, can manage finances (reasonably well)...how is it that with all these positives, the only thought that is always always overriding all this is how much I miss the man.  The other half, the one with whom my thoughts and sentences were complete. Who made me laugh, who understood and noticed small details that would fool everyone else.    The man did love the winter light     Jotting down a list of things (in no particular order), that I miss about him - His hands - the man had the most beautiful hands that I have seen till date. Long artistic fingers that bore truth to his love for working with them - be it the sourdoughs that he learnt via YouTube or his leather work or the ferments or the photography or the hand-crafted diaries or his cooking or his ferments - That broken to...

If the grief won't get to you, the paperwork will

Days pass by and it seems like yesterday, but also aeons since I lost my partner. My best friend. How do you explain this grief that refuses to go away? Grief that seems to have made a home in a tiny space in your heart? Grief that 'allows' you to laugh, but also makes you feel strange about that laughter. Just when you think you are  figuring things out, taking one tiny step forward, and feeling like you are moving ahead...wham! The paperwork starts... Sending his death certificate - over and over again - looking at his age stated on the certificate - 53 years 10 months 6 days, and having it committed to your memory. Letting people know that yes, you are  the only surviving member who is still alive... And then doing it all over again.  And again. And once more. Days when the pain in your leg is outweighed by the pain in your heart. Pain that doesn't allow sleep to help your body run away from that pain, even for a moment. Days when you would like to join your yoga class...

At least its a start!

I took a pen and a piece of paper Wanting to just jot down my thoughts…Or so I thought… My mind went blank…and my ‘creative juices’ dried up! What was I supposed to do??? Heart rending decisions I do have to take Some gut wrenching realities I do have to face But I am just not ready for them now Life as I term it has more in store for me now…. There are fresh beginnings that I have made There are things to do… And checklists to make… Checklists that cover Oh so many things Sadness, Pity, Sorrows These are things that I would like to leave behind Euphoria, Joy, Happiness These are the things to look out for… Life! As they term it… Here I come… With joys, ecstasies Unknown but plentiful all around!