How civil is Civil Society???

Once upon a time…
In Mumbai, people residing all over the country, considered it to be the hotspot for living.
No doubt, they still do..
But,
Lets travel back in timeline, for about fifty, sixty, eighty years and picture the city, than that was, which attracted inhabitants of different locals and regions to settle here.
What was sooo charismatic about this city, in the bygone era?
Mumbai was bestowed with the beach and greenery, equilibrium weather and what not. Thus, people from every nook and corner, dreamt of settling in this belt. No doubt, these populace, made Mumbai their dear home and contributed enormously to develop it and bring it glory of making it the financial capital of the country. Initialy, what was the habitate of the fishermen community has turned out to be the most sought after destination of the country.
Today, Mumbai has undoubtedly flourished to its optimum but sadly, along with outburst of population, there seems to be decline in civic sense. Day by day, each area of this city is turning into concrete jungle to fit in it’s bursting residents.
And,
Along with it comes, garbage rotting on roadside, gutters filled with filthy and stinking water, vehicles which have increased in hundred folds parked every possible NO PARKING, pedistrians trespassing on the roads leaving aside pavements, so on and so forth.
One would want to express his or her disgust towards the above mentioned scenario by blaming the Municipal authority for not taking sufficient measures.
Very true…
I absolutely endorse it.. It is the right and the duty of the civilian to demand for the upkeep of their surrounding as well as providing well guarded administration.
And,
It is mandatory for the authority to committedly provide the necessary facilities to the citizens and punish strictly to those who damage the surroundings.
For,
There can be no action unless there is harsh penalty charged upon the misdoing.
But,
The buck does not stop at blaming the authority and demanding the wellness of the vicinity without us being responsible towards its conservation.
We, as citizens and dwellers of our own locality have to be conscientious regarding utilizing the garbage bins only, while rattling the garbage carelessly on the roadside. It is our sacred duty to be careful while parking our vehicle to allow others vehicles enough space required for parking and not park it in the manner that would curb the space of somebody else to park. It is our humble responsibility to use footpaths and pavements for strolling, wherever they are available.
The list is endless..
It is our sacrosanct obligation to fulfill our bit as unswerving citizens, before passing out the entire accountability on the said authority.
Remember it is the easiest way out..
But,
Pause a while and think…
Who is authority towards whom we pass on the blame game for the task unattended ?
Or,
The liability of wellness of our own locality..
The authority is a citizen from one of us, who was once a civilian like you or me, who has been elected or been selected to perform the job of basic amenities to be provided in the particular area..
The authority is not born in different planet or come from Mars..
He or she is born out of the same corrupt and indifferent society, whose members do not hesitate to park their vehicle in No Parking area, nor do they dither while bribing the cop with a “Bapu”[!!! Shameful but its true] for breaking the traffic rules or for drunken driving or so many more offences which could be fatal, neither their hands shiver while throwing the rotten eatables outside on the roads that would blemish their neighboring and lead to epidemics [throw the litter comfortably themselves and accuse the authority for not picking it up, but my dear, why throw it so carelessly???] . They carelessly wander on the center of the roads completely indifferent to the vehicle honking for room to pass.
Today, we make a fuss and create ruckus “blaming the authority” for all the issues .
But,
Tomorrow, if you or me are elected or selected to sit on the authority chair, will we be any different, being the offspring of the same corrupt and apathetic society, who hardly cares about ruining the neighborhood.
Thus,
The very first and prime duty is tutoring the common men and making him respecting his responsibilities. Unless we perform this duty , steadfastly, we can never create a leader or an authority with dedicated mindsets. No leader can be non-corrupt unless the society, he or she or from where he belongs portrays the traits themselves.
In current scenario, it has become a favorite trend of civilians to blame and criticize the political parties for all the corruption that is prevailing in the society..
But,
Not many are ready to dig deeper to reach the cause.
And,
Such trends have led to creation of Citizen’s Forum, who select a person among them to contest the election. One such representative won the Corporation Election, from Ward no. 63-K ward, in Mumbai. The area comprising of Juhu Scheme and Juhu Lane and around. Nothing personally against Mr. Adolf D’souza, but the representative has been fairly unsuccessful in solving the issues of the said area, for probably lack of fund [don’t believe it.. its Juhu Scheme-the occupant bigwigs and Richie-rich] or lack of his ability to be heard and strongly take actions as he does not have the backing of a political party.
But,
The result has been disastrous and unsatisfying for the citizens residing in the locality. Mr. Adolf has not been able to make a point neither in the Corporation nor among the machinery.
And,
As a result, the citizens who voted for or did not vote for him, are the sufferer and the scapegoat.
Sadly, the print media is wrongly publicizing him and the fake publicity regarding his so called great achievements , that has made all the change in the locality are doing rounds.
But,
The truth is entirely different.
The Citizens Forum, who wishes to plunge in sitting in the authoritative positions, should first shoulder the responsibility of creating the non-corrupt mindset among the civilians, educate them regarding being pro-active in upkeep of their own contiguous rather than jumping in to contest election and blame the political parties.