here is the third lesson
FAMADIHANA AND OTHER RITUALS
-Jayashree Mohanraj
1.What is the geographical location of Madagascar?
ans.It is located in the Indian Ocean, 400km in the east of Africa, 130km from the equator and 7000km from the South Pole. The tropic of Capricorn crosses its southern part.
2.How did Madagascar become united politically in the 19th and 20th century?
ans.It was united and rule by noble men, later which the French have conquered and
absorbed and in 1960, it gained its independence.
3.What happens during the circumcision ceremony?
ans.All the friends and relatives are invited, a big feast is prepared and people party all
night. The child is circumcised at dawn and is gifted with toys, money, chocolates
etc. after the process.
4.How are the Malagasy people buried?
ans.The Malagasy people are buried in their family tomb which their ancestors have built and families have renovated. This tomb stone could accommodate the dead bodies of generations.
5.Who are known as the ‘gods on earth’?
ans.The dead are believed to be the gods in earth. They are the most important and authoritative members of the family.
6.What link does Famadihana reaffirm in Madagascar?
a.It reaffirms the link between the living and the dead.
7.Why is Famadihana like a family re-union?
ans.It resembles the spirit of the family. They come together to celebrate and invite their ancestors to the feast. They take part in unwrapping and rewrapping the ancestors.
8.For how long is the tomb sealed after Famadihana is over?
a.It is sealed for 5 years. The ancestors rest in solitude for five long years after which,Famadihana is again repeated.
9.Why are the ancient tomb fields popular tourist attractions?
ans.It’s because they offer an insight into the rich culture of Madagascar.
10.In which corner of the house are the chickens kept?
ans.Chickens are kept in the south-western corner.
11.What is ‘fady’?
ans.‘Fady’ is the word in Malagasy which means ‘taboo’. Socially unacceptablebehavior is given the name ‘fady’.
12.What role has Christianity played in shaping the beliefs of the Malagasy people?
ans.Christianity led to the demise of idol worship but hasn’t challenged the strength of traditional beliefs. They invite the pastor to attend a Famadihana and place a cross on the tomb.
Looking at language: writing style (page-70)
Four rituals and three taboos are mentioned. The rituals of engagement,
circumcision, burying and Famadihana are mentioned. Taboos like sitting in door
way at the time of sprouting, refusing hospitality and denying hospitality are
mentioned.
Looking at language: vocabulary by theme (page-71)
Famadihana, fady, andriana, zanahary, razana, zebu, lamba, ombiasy, mpanandro,
vientina.
Literary concept: Theme (page-71)
1.Write a brief note on the history of Madagascar.
ans. Life on Madagascar began 2500 years ago when Indonesians started to immigrate.Malaysians, Polynesians and east Africans too migrated to Madagascar. The fragmented island was brought together under the noble rule. Later, the French took the power and at last in 1960, it gained its freedom.
2.How is the population of Madagascar constituted? is there a relation ship between the words Madagascar and Malagasy?
ans. Madagascar has 18 ethnic groups in 22 regions. Malagasy comes from the word
Madagascar. The official language and the people of Madagascar are called
Malagasy.
3.How are the engagement ceremonies of the Malagasy people solemnized? Is there any particular age for engagements or marriage?
ans. There is no particular age for engagement or marriage. The families of bride andgroom come together to celebrate. The groom comes with a gift to prospective in-laws. He also comes with a ring to the bride. They have great feast, later. Marriage ceremony is performed a few days or weeks later.
4.The Malagasy tradition of burying people is the center piece of this essay. Why are the dead bodies taken out of the tombs and felicitated by the members of the family?
ans. The Malagasy have a firm belief that the dead or the creators of customs, sources of life, channels between god and the living. It is believed that they have the power toaffect the fortunes. Above all they believe that the dead are the gods on earth.
5.A community or religion is often affected by outside influences. How has it taken place in Madagascar?
ans. It is obvious that a community is affected by outside influences. The Malagasy have adopted Christianity and Muslim traditions too.
Culture point: Famadihana (page-73)1.Societies……….during Famadihana.
ans. Famadihana is held on Saturday as it is considered sacred. The entire ritual is done
by close relatives, guided by an astrologer. The body is taken out, and a crowd
dances around the tombs. The body is laid on floor, washed and wrapped in a red
silk shroud. Silent prayers are done; the body is gently pressed and then thrown
into the air. Dances continue. The body is sprinkled with perfume and showered
with flowers and gifts like a bottle of rum, picture and a few bank slips. The body is
again placed on its stone and the tomb is closed immediately. It is followed by
dances and a huge feast.
Culture point: fady (page-74)1.Taboos……. Madagascar?
ans. One shouldn’t sit in the door way while the rice is sprouting. The door way is symbolically represented to birth. And hence it is believed that sitting in a door way obstructs birth which means lessen the yield of crop. It ultimately leads to lack of food and hence considered to be a threat to the community.
Culture point: space and time (page-74)
1.The Madagascar……. Beliefs.
ans. East and North are considered to be superior to West and South respectively. North East is believed to be the most favorable direction. North East corner is reservedfor prayers. Guests are seated on northern side; chickens are kept on South Western corner. Houses are built in North South axis.
Culture point: alien and local beliefs (page-75)
1.Indian culture ……….other traditions there?
ans. Christianity and tradition in Madagascar have been blend so well that they can’t go apart. Christians too follow the special ritual with out losing their traces in Christianity. They believe that the dead turn tomb christens and show path to the alive.
Literary concept: non-fiction (page 75)
1.Fiction……. Such details?
ans. Whatever presented is a fact. It is a factual presentation of certain rituals and tradition. We could verify it by surfing internet or by reading books and journals on tribal traditions. We can easily come to know about these rituals when we learn aboutMadagascar and even through the tourist they have visited the place. It is a journalistic essay and hence, facts alone will be presented.
Literary concept: theme (page-76)
1.Theme ……… particular essay?
ans. The theme of this essay is the belief in the existence of close ties between the living and dead. The Malagasy religious social values have their foundation in their traditional beliefs. The theme is the belief in tradition which supports; intimate relation and strong bond between people; the dead and the alive.
Literary concept: metaphor (page-77)
1.A metaphor……… this expression?
ans. It is symbolically represented that sitting in door way obstructs growth and birth. Sprouting is compared to birth and door way is compared to ‘gate-way’ of birth. As birth is obstructed if some thing is in its way, sprouting field will be obstructed or it won’t give proper yield if compared metaphorically.
Reading journal (page-78)
1.Summarize the facts given in the essay in above 300 words.
ans. The essay gives many facts that are prevalent in Madagascar the facts of immigration, socio-political scenario, capture of island by the French and the island securing freedom are given very clearly.
The fact that Malagasy follow certain weird rituals is projected. Various rituals like
Engagement, circumcision, burying the dead and Famadihana are practiced by the
Malagasy.
It is a fact that the ancient tomb fields attract many tourists and the inflow of
tourists is high during the time of Famadihana.
Various taboos and beliefs prevail on the island and the traditional values are well
taken into consideration.
Project
1.Vastu and the logic behind it
Vastu is a logical explanation of scientific truths and facts. The Vastu Principles are related with the properties (Natural Energies) of our Mother Earth. . It simply says that the sources of energies are to be open and the flow of energies is not to be disturbed. The morning Sun is considered especially beneficial and purifying and hence the East is a treasured direction
Vastu Shastra is based upon two important scientific facts:
1. Magnetic Property of the Earth and the gravitational and magnetic forces created by the
materials inside the Earth.
2. Rotation of the Earth on its axis, and the centrifugal and other forces created by its movements.
Today the scientific knowledge is much more than the knowledge of yesterday, but far too less compared with that of tomorrow. So naturally, what used to be considered a miracle, yesterday, can be rationally explained today. And what is still unexplained, or thought of as a miracle today, will be explained tomorrow, rationally.
Here, a few superstitions and beliefs that have been followed in India for ages are rationalized.
One should not sweep after dark- The Logic-In earlier times, when there were only poor lighting systems, one reason must have been the fear of losing valuables, (like a small gold earring). The other reason must have been that the splinters of the broom, when swept were prone to catch fire from the lamps causing the risk of a fire.
One should not pluck leaves, flowers of trees after dark – The Logic – One reason could be that there is the danger of getting stung by insects, snakes, thorns etc in the poor lighting. The other reason could be that one should not disturb nature, when she is resting, because like humans nature also needs rest.
One should not give nor hand over nor exchange tamarind, salt, fire, light, lamps etc from hand to hand. The Logic- It may be to signify that nobody should be in a situation to beg or ask for basic essentials which should be available free for all to take without asking anyone.
One should not use someone else’s shoes, ornaments, clothes, or water glass. The Logic - It is unhygienic to use other people’s shoes, clothes and drinking glass. It is a risk to use other’s ornaments because if they get lost, it can cause problems.
If one stamps on another person’s cut nails, they will start hating each other. The Logic – One reason could be that one’s nails may be poisonous to another person, if it pierces the skin. The other reason may be a reminder that however useless the nails of a person may be, by stamping on them, it is like stamping on the ego of the person.
One should not sleep with the feet towards the South, as it is considered a sign of disrespect to the elders. The Logic- The North-South magnetic axis affects our bodies at a micro level without us realisng it. Since our body is like a magnet, with the North Pole at the Head, one should avoid sleeping with the feet facing South as the head in the North will repel the magnetic North of the Earth, causing some irritations in the mind.
One shall not place fire embers under a bed, nor at the foot of the bed when sleeping. The Logic- The cot may catch fire while you are sleeping and you may accidentally step on the hot embers when you wake up sleepily in the night to go to the toilet.
One shall not pass urine facing the wind, the fire or the Sun. The Logic- This is to prevent the urine from getting carried away with the wind to someone else.
One should not step over a rope to which a calf is tied.The Logic – When you try to step over the rope, the calf may be frightened and suddenly jump away causing you to trip.
One should not run when it rains. The Logic- It is obvious that the ground will be slippery when it rains, and though you may want to run for shelter, it may be wiser to walk carefully.
One should never look at the Sun when it is eclipsed or at noon. The Logic – It is obvious that the strong U-V rays of the sun can affect your eyes.
Though Vastu Shastra is considered by many to be an orthodox science and superstition, in reality, it is an architectural science and its guidelines and rules can be explained logically and scientifically.
[Courtesy………architectureideas.info]
2. Special rituals in various communities
Every country has its own strange and special rituals. Every religion, tribe and group hastheir own rituals and practices which may seem funny, scary, weird, gross or cruel.
The Zulu Tribes have a ritual of drinking animal blood. They believe that it gives them energy. They also have a ritual of circumcision. The young boys are covered with white dust all over face and body. They use sharp rocks or spear blades for the circumcision process. Later, the wounds are dressed with mud and animal excrement to stop bleeding. It may result in severe injuries, disfigured genitals and even death.
The Masai Tribe of Kenya has a ritual of drinking fresh human blood as well as animal blood. Young girls are sacrificed to the gods and then the people drink the freshly collected blood. Later, the body is cut into pieces and then burnt. The Masais also undergo the painful circumcision process for both male and female.
The Sambia Tribe in Papua New Guinea has a strange ritual. The Sambia males undergo an initiaon ritual performed by the village tribes. Male villagers are separated from females. At an early age of 5, young Sambia boys are poked with sharp sticks inside their nose and allow it to bleed and they are forced to drink their blood. They call this blood, ‘male milk’. This practice is a kind of menstruation for the Sambia males. After many years of repeated rituals, the boys are allowed to marry. They believe that they get contaminated by the females. So, after sex and marriage the Sambian male bathe with mud as to cleanse themselves. They believe that male will be influenced by females and hence they live in groups away from female and thus become homosexuals.
The most heinous ritual practiced in China is foetus cannibalism. The soup made of cooked placentas and the dishes made of fetuses are considered to be health and beauty supplements. Male fetuses are given prime importance. It remained unexplored until a truck with fetuses was seized in Yulin while transportation.
The Indian rituals we are well aware of are- ayudha puja which mean worshipping the weapons; varuna yagna which mean offering prayers to rain god in expectance of rains; fire cleansing ritual like walking on hot coals in order to get purified.
MORNING BELLS
-Jayashree Mohanraj
1.What do rag pickers do?
ans. Rag pickers wake up early in the morning, go from garbage bin to garbage bin filling their jute sacks with the material like broken plastics, tins, cans and bottles which they think could fetch them some money.
2.How did Chotu, Ramu, Irfan and Munna come together?
ans .They came together by providence. Chotu ran away from home; Ramu was sent away; Irfan and Munna don’t have a home at all. All four of them once met at a dumping yard and started to live together.
3.Why was the old municipal sweeper kind to them?
ans.The sweeper would have felt bad for their lives and hence has been kind to them. He extended the help he could do to them.
4.What did Chotu discover inside the garbage bin?
ans. Chotu discovered an infant in the garbage bin. He found it while he was searching the bin.
5.Why had the female infant supposedly been left there?
ans. It might have been an unwanted child, may be a result of pre/extra marital relation or might because it’s a female child. Many families in our society don’t accept a female child.
6.What did Ramu do with it?
ans. Ramu bent into the bin and gathered the infant in his hand. They wrapped it in an old news paper and put the bundle in the jute sack.
7.Where did they go with the small bundle?
ans. They went to the abandoned car shed which happens to be their home.
8.Why were people going to the temple?
ans. People go to temple for many reasons. Be it like – to seek blessings, to wash off their sins, to satisfy them selves for being so devotional, to impress others by being pious, and to attain peace of mind….etc.
9.Why did one of the beggars want to adopt Ramu?
ans. One of the beggars had taken fancy for Ramu. He wanted to adopt him because he has no one living with him. He wanted to make Ramu his son, so that he would get some company and also that he could take a break once in a while, assigning his duty to Ramu.
10. What did Chotu buy outside the temple?
ans. Chotu bought some flowers and a few incense sticks.
11. What did they do with the body of Chutky?
ans. They dug a pit in one corner of the shed, placed the body in the pit and coveredwith mud. They kneeled beside the pit, put flowers, lit incense sticks and prayed a moment for her soul to rest in peace.
12. What message do you get from the story?
ans. - The real prayer lies in empathy and sympathy for others.
- One should never forget the humanitarian principles and values.
- A minor positive action is better than a huge improper behavior
- Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.
Looking at Language : Writing Style [page 11]
Para 4 – Chotu had run away from home…. (loose)
Para 18- He walked towards….. (loose)
Para 18- The priest …. (periodic)
Para 21- once they were……newspaper (periodic)
Para 16- But with……. Freedom (periodic)
Para 6- Chotu pulled up…….. (balanced)
Day shines brightly, night glitters brightly (balanced)
Do the work you love, love the work you do (balanced).
Sympathy is an expression ………. Give examples. (Page 12)
Both sympathy and empathy are shown in the four characters. The rich and the pious
people are described in sarcastic manner. The beggar and the sweeper have also
shown sympathy for the rag pickers
Looking at Language : Regional Flavour (page12)
Native words or regional words as we say, don’t always have equivalents in
English; when the word are related to tradition especially. Local words leave a
positive feeling on local readers and a sense of belongingness. A reader could easily
connect with the writer and the plot when he comes across regional language.
The regional words that are used in second lesson are – harmattan , ogbono, garri,
egusi, jollof.
We face some inconvenience when such regional words are used but at the same
time, it gives us an opportunity to come to know foreign words and their usage. Usage
of regional words give a sense of enthusiasm to readers.
Literary concept: Theme (page 14)
1.The phrase……….symbolize?
ans. It symbolizes the small but apt response which is very much essential. It indirectly states the necessity of empathy and the need fro action. It alarms against what is to be done and what not to be done.
2.Rationalist …………. one another?
ans. We could say that they are bellow the poverty line and don’t have positive family
backdrop. They are not accepted their families fro some or other reasons. These became the common factor behind their meet and bond with each other.
3.What kind of person…….driven?
ans. It might a person who couldn’t tolerate the birth of a female or a person who tried to get rid of the unwanted birth or a women who didn’t wish to face the consequences for having delivered a female child.
4.What prompts……… in the shed?
ans. They would have identified them selves in the infant, they very well know that it
would be torn in to pieces if left in the bin. They didn’t want the innocent face to
have such an end.
5.Each closed group………with the beggars?
ans. As every group has its own code of conduct, so is the case with beggars. They
have a set of rules to be followed which seen shocking to outsiders. Their team
work may evoke jealousy in others.
6.Explain why the boys………..infant?
ans. ‘Chutki’ means the smallest and the cutest one. They would have chosen the name
because its an infant who looked cute and had a short life.
Culture point : Female Infanticide (page 17)
Satya Meva Jayate, Aamir Khan’s maiden television show made the country hooked to their television sets one fine Sunday morning. It came as a surprise package of overwhelming emotions and disturbing facts clubbed together in a laudable concept and notice-worthy script. It’s about the female infanticide in India.
We regularly see the headlines in news papers like, ‘The body of an infant found’, ‘Father killed his daughter’, ‘Abandoned infant found’. It’s hard to believe that these heinous acts happen in a country like India, where women are given prime honour traditionally.
Reports say that a whopping 78,847 girls in Andhra Pradesh have fallen prey to either female infanticide or female foeticide between 2005 and 2011, according to government officials who have investigated the rapid decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) in the state.
Sex selection may be one of the contributing factors of infanticide. According to a recent report by one of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing in India’s population as a result of systematic sex discrimination. Hence, strict laws are framed against sex revelation during pregnancy.
Infanticide is often a response to an unwanted birth. Preventing unwanted pregnancies through improved sex education and increased contraceptive access are advocated as ways of preventing infanticide. Some say that where abortion is illegal, as in Pakistan, infanticide would decline if safer legal abortions were available.
Screening for psychiatric disorders or risk factors, and providing treatment or assistance to those at risk may help prevent infanticide.
Granting women employment raises their status and autonomy. Having a gainful employment can raise the perceived worth of females. This can lead to an increase in the number of women getting an education and a decrease in the number of female infanticide. As a result, the infant mortality rate will decrease and economic development will increase.
Culture point: Hypocrisy (page-18)
People express………….. religion
The hypocritical show is clearly depicted in morning bells. They are concerned with rituals alone and not the true sense of prayer and the essence of religion. A religion teaches to be piteous to others, tom serve them and to help. But it is notfollowed by the temple-goers in the stories.
Culture point: Economy
Relate ………………story
A temple promotes service and sympathetic approach from the down trodden. It
enables service to the needy. It gives the scope to give the society whatever needed
Culture point: Beggary
He means that one could do easy money through begging. One need not work hard
or struggle for survival if he begs. He considers begging to be a sort of
employment.
Culture point: Abandoned children (page-20)
The temple goers concerned about them selves and their family alone. They are not kind enough like the rag pickers. The rag pickers have been nearer to god by displaying their generosity, sympathy and kindness.
Reading Journal (page-20)
Re-narrate the story from chutki’s view point.
I was very happy to enter this world and have been counting seconds fro myarrival. I was proud that I am a female but happiness didn’t last long. As soon as I was born, I had to face the rejection fro being a female. No one was ready to feed, touch me or even to look at me. I was astonished by their reaction. Even more, my mother was blamed and abused fro having given birth to me, a female one. She pleaded every one but couldn’t convince them finally, I was secretly thrown into a garbage bin. I struggle for a while to breathe but had to give up after a few minutes. I was found by some rag pickers. They took me home dissatisfying a stray dog which was eager to eat me. They stopped on their way to buy a few flowers and some incense sticks. They were given awful looks by the pious and rich people over there.
A pit was dug in their home. I was placed inside the pit and was covered bymud; they put the followers and lit the incense sticks. They prayed fro me on kneels. I lied there peacefully, happy fro the burial.
Project (page 21)
1.An article on Rag-Pickers
ans. Rag pickers play an important, but usually unrecognized role in the waste management system of Indian cities. They collect garbage in search of recyclable items that can be sold to scrap merchant (paper, plastic, tin...) This activity requires no skill and is a source of income for a growing number of urban poor. In India, over a million people find livelihood opportunities through waste picking.
Rag pickers are mostly women who come from the most marginalized groups of the population and often live in unauthorized slums in the poorest neighbourhood.
Studies also show that rag pickers are most of the time migrants who had fled their city or village because of hard living conditions. The vast majority of the rag pickers are Dalits or minorities.
Many children begin working as rag pickers at the young age of five or six years.Most of them never attend school and don’t have any formal education. Their families are generally in need of extra incomes from their children.
There are two categories of child rag pickers: the street pickers, who collect garbage in street bins or residential areas, and dump pickers who work on dumping grounds.
Girls were traditionally more involved in rag picking than boys, but adolescent girls are less involved in rag picking because it is believed to be unsafe for them to be out on the street. They are involved in taking care of the house chores and help in sorting the collected garbage from home.
Some of the child rag pickers go to school and work the other part of the day or during holidays. Some girls are found working as rag pickers in the morning, sometimes attending school in the afternoon and coming back home in theevening to help their mother with the household chores or to care for their younger siblings.
Impact of rag picking on the life of children
They have to face several health issues as they always work in filthy environment. They are prone to many diseases like respiratory problems, anemia, fever etc.
They don’t show any interest to go to school and hence remain illiterates. They even withdraw from schools as they could earn money through rag picking.
Some improvements in their work conditions
Many NGOs are supporting the rag pickers to gain access to the basic services (health care, health insurance, education and vocational training). They also provide legal support or counselling sessions and help them form unions to speak up for their rights.
In some cities, their work has been partly recognized and their situation thus improved. In Pune, the municipal corporation now issues identity cards to rag pickers and offers a limited health insurance plan, recognizing their contribution to recycling waste in the city
This acknowledgement can have a positive impact on reducing child labour by increasing the parent’s income therefore reducing their dependence on the money their children earn.
Case Study – Narasaraopet
Kumari, 11 years old, has 3 brothers. Her father died; and her mother is weak and gets sick very often. She and her 12-year-old brother are the bread winners of the family.
Kumari’s day begins early morning; she cooks rice, prepares tea and goes with her brother round the town for rag picking. She returns home when the sun is highin the sky. After taking bath and meal she looks after her younger brother. Around 3 pm she starts second round of rag picking and comes back around 7 PM. She cooks the evening meal and does other house hold work.
She dreams to become teacher but hardly find any time to go to school. She wants to play with the doll, which she found during her daily rag collection. She is growing up and has lots of questions but no one to answer them. She dreams of collecting lots of money and going back to school and lead a life she wanted to.
2. The Rights of the child
Every human being under the age of 18 is considered to be a child. While all children need protection, some need special attention. They are- homeless children, orphaned or abandoned children, child beggars, children of sex workers, children affected by natural disasters, children suffering from terminal diseases, disabled children etc.
The Indian Constitution has a framework within which ample provisions exist for the protection, development and welfare of children. There are a wide range of laws that guarantee children their rights and entitlements as provided in the Constitution and in the UN Convention.
Every child has the following rights, as per the Indian Constitution-
Right to free and compulsory education for all children in the 6-14 year age group (Article 21A)
Right to be protected from any hazardous employment till the age of 14 years (Article 24)
Right to be protected from being abused and forced by economic necessity to enter occupations unsuited to their age or strength (Article 39(e))
Right to equal opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and youth against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment (Article 39(f))
Right to equality (Article 14)
Right against discrimination (Article 15)
Right to personal liberty and due process of law (Article 21)
Right to being protected from being trafficked and forced into bonded labour (article 23)
Right of weaker sections of the people to be protected from social injustice and all forms of exploitation (Article 46)
These rights could be put in simple as-
The right to education
The right to Expression
The right to information
The right to Nutrition
The right to Health and Care
The right to protection from Abuse
The right to protection from Exploitation
The right to protection from Neglect
The right to development
The right to Recreation
The right to Name and Nationality
The right to Survival
Every child has the right to avail his rights and it’s the prime duty of the government and the elders to see that every child utilizes the rights provided for him.
3. Eco-friendly Garbage Management
Waste management is an important part of infrastructure for cities, towns and countries. Today’s busy lives are interested to use everything that is disposable and it generates piles of waste in the environment.
The Namakkal Municipality can be taken as an ideal municipality which has become Zero Garbage Town from 01.07.2003. It has implemented various activities in order to achieve this. They followed steps like—door to door collection of garbage with segregation, sale of recyclable waste, manufacturing vermin compost from organic waste, door to door collection and sweeping on all holidays and Sundays, 100% removal of garbage daily etc. It has become the first Dust bin free town in the world.
We should try to practice a few of these steps to make our town, an eco friendly one. Firstly, the people of the town need to be motivated well. We should see that every person comes forward and co-operate. We should take the individual responsibility in managing the waste.
Let’s say NO to plastic and toxic products. It’s always better to carry a cloth bag when you go shopping. We should avoid excess packing. Paper packing is better than plastic as it is degradable.
We should buy the eco-friendly products only. It’s better to buy durable products instead of disposable and cheap products. We would better buy items that could be reused and recycled.
We should try to repair the items before replacing them. We can pass the unwanted items to our friends and family. Let’s not dump the E-waste (printers, coffee machines, refrigerators etc.) Instead, we could donate them to the needy.
Let’s not throw everything on the roads and create a mess. Let’s reduce the waste we produce like paper waste and organic waste.
Waste management is something that should be a joint effort between government, industries and citizens. Our planet suffered a tremendous damage due to mass dumped products. Recycling the products will reduce the strain on our environment and our resources.
Being aware of the products we use is contributing to the future of our planet. Waste management is manageable only if everyone does his or her part in keeping our planet healthy.
-Jayashree Mohanraj
1.What is the geographical location of Madagascar?
ans.It is located in the Indian Ocean, 400km in the east of Africa, 130km from the equator and 7000km from the South Pole. The tropic of Capricorn crosses its southern part.
2.How did Madagascar become united politically in the 19th and 20th century?
ans.It was united and rule by noble men, later which the French have conquered and
absorbed and in 1960, it gained its independence.
3.What happens during the circumcision ceremony?
ans.All the friends and relatives are invited, a big feast is prepared and people party all
night. The child is circumcised at dawn and is gifted with toys, money, chocolates
etc. after the process.
4.How are the Malagasy people buried?
ans.The Malagasy people are buried in their family tomb which their ancestors have built and families have renovated. This tomb stone could accommodate the dead bodies of generations.
5.Who are known as the ‘gods on earth’?
ans.The dead are believed to be the gods in earth. They are the most important and authoritative members of the family.
6.What link does Famadihana reaffirm in Madagascar?
a.It reaffirms the link between the living and the dead.
7.Why is Famadihana like a family re-union?
ans.It resembles the spirit of the family. They come together to celebrate and invite their ancestors to the feast. They take part in unwrapping and rewrapping the ancestors.
8.For how long is the tomb sealed after Famadihana is over?
a.It is sealed for 5 years. The ancestors rest in solitude for five long years after which,Famadihana is again repeated.
9.Why are the ancient tomb fields popular tourist attractions?
ans.It’s because they offer an insight into the rich culture of Madagascar.
10.In which corner of the house are the chickens kept?
ans.Chickens are kept in the south-western corner.
11.What is ‘fady’?
ans.‘Fady’ is the word in Malagasy which means ‘taboo’. Socially unacceptablebehavior is given the name ‘fady’.
12.What role has Christianity played in shaping the beliefs of the Malagasy people?
ans.Christianity led to the demise of idol worship but hasn’t challenged the strength of traditional beliefs. They invite the pastor to attend a Famadihana and place a cross on the tomb.
Looking at language: writing style (page-70)
Four rituals and three taboos are mentioned. The rituals of engagement,
circumcision, burying and Famadihana are mentioned. Taboos like sitting in door
way at the time of sprouting, refusing hospitality and denying hospitality are
mentioned.
Looking at language: vocabulary by theme (page-71)
Famadihana, fady, andriana, zanahary, razana, zebu, lamba, ombiasy, mpanandro,
vientina.
Literary concept: Theme (page-71)
1.Write a brief note on the history of Madagascar.
ans. Life on Madagascar began 2500 years ago when Indonesians started to immigrate.Malaysians, Polynesians and east Africans too migrated to Madagascar. The fragmented island was brought together under the noble rule. Later, the French took the power and at last in 1960, it gained its freedom.
2.How is the population of Madagascar constituted? is there a relation ship between the words Madagascar and Malagasy?
ans. Madagascar has 18 ethnic groups in 22 regions. Malagasy comes from the word
Madagascar. The official language and the people of Madagascar are called
Malagasy.
3.How are the engagement ceremonies of the Malagasy people solemnized? Is there any particular age for engagements or marriage?
ans. There is no particular age for engagement or marriage. The families of bride andgroom come together to celebrate. The groom comes with a gift to prospective in-laws. He also comes with a ring to the bride. They have great feast, later. Marriage ceremony is performed a few days or weeks later.
4.The Malagasy tradition of burying people is the center piece of this essay. Why are the dead bodies taken out of the tombs and felicitated by the members of the family?
ans. The Malagasy have a firm belief that the dead or the creators of customs, sources of life, channels between god and the living. It is believed that they have the power toaffect the fortunes. Above all they believe that the dead are the gods on earth.
5.A community or religion is often affected by outside influences. How has it taken place in Madagascar?
ans. It is obvious that a community is affected by outside influences. The Malagasy have adopted Christianity and Muslim traditions too.
Culture point: Famadihana (page-73)1.Societies……….during Famadihana.
ans. Famadihana is held on Saturday as it is considered sacred. The entire ritual is done
by close relatives, guided by an astrologer. The body is taken out, and a crowd
dances around the tombs. The body is laid on floor, washed and wrapped in a red
silk shroud. Silent prayers are done; the body is gently pressed and then thrown
into the air. Dances continue. The body is sprinkled with perfume and showered
with flowers and gifts like a bottle of rum, picture and a few bank slips. The body is
again placed on its stone and the tomb is closed immediately. It is followed by
dances and a huge feast.
Culture point: fady (page-74)1.Taboos……. Madagascar?
ans. One shouldn’t sit in the door way while the rice is sprouting. The door way is symbolically represented to birth. And hence it is believed that sitting in a door way obstructs birth which means lessen the yield of crop. It ultimately leads to lack of food and hence considered to be a threat to the community.
Culture point: space and time (page-74)
1.The Madagascar……. Beliefs.
ans. East and North are considered to be superior to West and South respectively. North East is believed to be the most favorable direction. North East corner is reservedfor prayers. Guests are seated on northern side; chickens are kept on South Western corner. Houses are built in North South axis.
Culture point: alien and local beliefs (page-75)
1.Indian culture ……….other traditions there?
ans. Christianity and tradition in Madagascar have been blend so well that they can’t go apart. Christians too follow the special ritual with out losing their traces in Christianity. They believe that the dead turn tomb christens and show path to the alive.
Literary concept: non-fiction (page 75)
1.Fiction……. Such details?
ans. Whatever presented is a fact. It is a factual presentation of certain rituals and tradition. We could verify it by surfing internet or by reading books and journals on tribal traditions. We can easily come to know about these rituals when we learn aboutMadagascar and even through the tourist they have visited the place. It is a journalistic essay and hence, facts alone will be presented.
Literary concept: theme (page-76)
1.Theme ……… particular essay?
ans. The theme of this essay is the belief in the existence of close ties between the living and dead. The Malagasy religious social values have their foundation in their traditional beliefs. The theme is the belief in tradition which supports; intimate relation and strong bond between people; the dead and the alive.
Literary concept: metaphor (page-77)
1.A metaphor……… this expression?
ans. It is symbolically represented that sitting in door way obstructs growth and birth. Sprouting is compared to birth and door way is compared to ‘gate-way’ of birth. As birth is obstructed if some thing is in its way, sprouting field will be obstructed or it won’t give proper yield if compared metaphorically.
Reading journal (page-78)
1.Summarize the facts given in the essay in above 300 words.
ans. The essay gives many facts that are prevalent in Madagascar the facts of immigration, socio-political scenario, capture of island by the French and the island securing freedom are given very clearly.
The fact that Malagasy follow certain weird rituals is projected. Various rituals like
Engagement, circumcision, burying the dead and Famadihana are practiced by the
Malagasy.
It is a fact that the ancient tomb fields attract many tourists and the inflow of
tourists is high during the time of Famadihana.
Various taboos and beliefs prevail on the island and the traditional values are well
taken into consideration.
Project
1.Vastu and the logic behind it
Vastu is a logical explanation of scientific truths and facts. The Vastu Principles are related with the properties (Natural Energies) of our Mother Earth. . It simply says that the sources of energies are to be open and the flow of energies is not to be disturbed. The morning Sun is considered especially beneficial and purifying and hence the East is a treasured direction
Vastu Shastra is based upon two important scientific facts:
1. Magnetic Property of the Earth and the gravitational and magnetic forces created by the
materials inside the Earth.
2. Rotation of the Earth on its axis, and the centrifugal and other forces created by its movements.
Today the scientific knowledge is much more than the knowledge of yesterday, but far too less compared with that of tomorrow. So naturally, what used to be considered a miracle, yesterday, can be rationally explained today. And what is still unexplained, or thought of as a miracle today, will be explained tomorrow, rationally.
Here, a few superstitions and beliefs that have been followed in India for ages are rationalized.
One should not sweep after dark- The Logic-In earlier times, when there were only poor lighting systems, one reason must have been the fear of losing valuables, (like a small gold earring). The other reason must have been that the splinters of the broom, when swept were prone to catch fire from the lamps causing the risk of a fire.
One should not pluck leaves, flowers of trees after dark – The Logic – One reason could be that there is the danger of getting stung by insects, snakes, thorns etc in the poor lighting. The other reason could be that one should not disturb nature, when she is resting, because like humans nature also needs rest.
One should not give nor hand over nor exchange tamarind, salt, fire, light, lamps etc from hand to hand. The Logic- It may be to signify that nobody should be in a situation to beg or ask for basic essentials which should be available free for all to take without asking anyone.
One should not use someone else’s shoes, ornaments, clothes, or water glass. The Logic - It is unhygienic to use other people’s shoes, clothes and drinking glass. It is a risk to use other’s ornaments because if they get lost, it can cause problems.
If one stamps on another person’s cut nails, they will start hating each other. The Logic – One reason could be that one’s nails may be poisonous to another person, if it pierces the skin. The other reason may be a reminder that however useless the nails of a person may be, by stamping on them, it is like stamping on the ego of the person.
One should not sleep with the feet towards the South, as it is considered a sign of disrespect to the elders. The Logic- The North-South magnetic axis affects our bodies at a micro level without us realisng it. Since our body is like a magnet, with the North Pole at the Head, one should avoid sleeping with the feet facing South as the head in the North will repel the magnetic North of the Earth, causing some irritations in the mind.
One shall not place fire embers under a bed, nor at the foot of the bed when sleeping. The Logic- The cot may catch fire while you are sleeping and you may accidentally step on the hot embers when you wake up sleepily in the night to go to the toilet.
One shall not pass urine facing the wind, the fire or the Sun. The Logic- This is to prevent the urine from getting carried away with the wind to someone else.
One should not step over a rope to which a calf is tied.The Logic – When you try to step over the rope, the calf may be frightened and suddenly jump away causing you to trip.
One should not run when it rains. The Logic- It is obvious that the ground will be slippery when it rains, and though you may want to run for shelter, it may be wiser to walk carefully.
One should never look at the Sun when it is eclipsed or at noon. The Logic – It is obvious that the strong U-V rays of the sun can affect your eyes.
Though Vastu Shastra is considered by many to be an orthodox science and superstition, in reality, it is an architectural science and its guidelines and rules can be explained logically and scientifically.
[Courtesy………architectureideas.info]
2. Special rituals in various communities
Every country has its own strange and special rituals. Every religion, tribe and group hastheir own rituals and practices which may seem funny, scary, weird, gross or cruel.
The Zulu Tribes have a ritual of drinking animal blood. They believe that it gives them energy. They also have a ritual of circumcision. The young boys are covered with white dust all over face and body. They use sharp rocks or spear blades for the circumcision process. Later, the wounds are dressed with mud and animal excrement to stop bleeding. It may result in severe injuries, disfigured genitals and even death.
The Masai Tribe of Kenya has a ritual of drinking fresh human blood as well as animal blood. Young girls are sacrificed to the gods and then the people drink the freshly collected blood. Later, the body is cut into pieces and then burnt. The Masais also undergo the painful circumcision process for both male and female.
The Sambia Tribe in Papua New Guinea has a strange ritual. The Sambia males undergo an initiaon ritual performed by the village tribes. Male villagers are separated from females. At an early age of 5, young Sambia boys are poked with sharp sticks inside their nose and allow it to bleed and they are forced to drink their blood. They call this blood, ‘male milk’. This practice is a kind of menstruation for the Sambia males. After many years of repeated rituals, the boys are allowed to marry. They believe that they get contaminated by the females. So, after sex and marriage the Sambian male bathe with mud as to cleanse themselves. They believe that male will be influenced by females and hence they live in groups away from female and thus become homosexuals.
The most heinous ritual practiced in China is foetus cannibalism. The soup made of cooked placentas and the dishes made of fetuses are considered to be health and beauty supplements. Male fetuses are given prime importance. It remained unexplored until a truck with fetuses was seized in Yulin while transportation.
The Indian rituals we are well aware of are- ayudha puja which mean worshipping the weapons; varuna yagna which mean offering prayers to rain god in expectance of rains; fire cleansing ritual like walking on hot coals in order to get purified.
MORNING BELLS
-Jayashree Mohanraj
1.What do rag pickers do?
ans. Rag pickers wake up early in the morning, go from garbage bin to garbage bin filling their jute sacks with the material like broken plastics, tins, cans and bottles which they think could fetch them some money.
2.How did Chotu, Ramu, Irfan and Munna come together?
ans .They came together by providence. Chotu ran away from home; Ramu was sent away; Irfan and Munna don’t have a home at all. All four of them once met at a dumping yard and started to live together.
3.Why was the old municipal sweeper kind to them?
ans.The sweeper would have felt bad for their lives and hence has been kind to them. He extended the help he could do to them.
4.What did Chotu discover inside the garbage bin?
ans. Chotu discovered an infant in the garbage bin. He found it while he was searching the bin.
5.Why had the female infant supposedly been left there?
ans. It might have been an unwanted child, may be a result of pre/extra marital relation or might because it’s a female child. Many families in our society don’t accept a female child.
6.What did Ramu do with it?
ans. Ramu bent into the bin and gathered the infant in his hand. They wrapped it in an old news paper and put the bundle in the jute sack.
7.Where did they go with the small bundle?
ans. They went to the abandoned car shed which happens to be their home.
8.Why were people going to the temple?
ans. People go to temple for many reasons. Be it like – to seek blessings, to wash off their sins, to satisfy them selves for being so devotional, to impress others by being pious, and to attain peace of mind….etc.
9.Why did one of the beggars want to adopt Ramu?
ans. One of the beggars had taken fancy for Ramu. He wanted to adopt him because he has no one living with him. He wanted to make Ramu his son, so that he would get some company and also that he could take a break once in a while, assigning his duty to Ramu.
10. What did Chotu buy outside the temple?
ans. Chotu bought some flowers and a few incense sticks.
11. What did they do with the body of Chutky?
ans. They dug a pit in one corner of the shed, placed the body in the pit and coveredwith mud. They kneeled beside the pit, put flowers, lit incense sticks and prayed a moment for her soul to rest in peace.
12. What message do you get from the story?
ans. - The real prayer lies in empathy and sympathy for others.
- One should never forget the humanitarian principles and values.
- A minor positive action is better than a huge improper behavior
- Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.
Looking at Language : Writing Style [page 11]
Para 4 – Chotu had run away from home…. (loose)
Para 18- He walked towards….. (loose)
Para 18- The priest …. (periodic)
Para 21- once they were……newspaper (periodic)
Para 16- But with……. Freedom (periodic)
Para 6- Chotu pulled up…….. (balanced)
Day shines brightly, night glitters brightly (balanced)
Do the work you love, love the work you do (balanced).
Sympathy is an expression ………. Give examples. (Page 12)
Both sympathy and empathy are shown in the four characters. The rich and the pious
people are described in sarcastic manner. The beggar and the sweeper have also
shown sympathy for the rag pickers
Looking at Language : Regional Flavour (page12)
Native words or regional words as we say, don’t always have equivalents in
English; when the word are related to tradition especially. Local words leave a
positive feeling on local readers and a sense of belongingness. A reader could easily
connect with the writer and the plot when he comes across regional language.
The regional words that are used in second lesson are – harmattan , ogbono, garri,
egusi, jollof.
We face some inconvenience when such regional words are used but at the same
time, it gives us an opportunity to come to know foreign words and their usage. Usage
of regional words give a sense of enthusiasm to readers.
Literary concept: Theme (page 14)
1.The phrase……….symbolize?
ans. It symbolizes the small but apt response which is very much essential. It indirectly states the necessity of empathy and the need fro action. It alarms against what is to be done and what not to be done.
2.Rationalist …………. one another?
ans. We could say that they are bellow the poverty line and don’t have positive family
backdrop. They are not accepted their families fro some or other reasons. These became the common factor behind their meet and bond with each other.
3.What kind of person…….driven?
ans. It might a person who couldn’t tolerate the birth of a female or a person who tried to get rid of the unwanted birth or a women who didn’t wish to face the consequences for having delivered a female child.
4.What prompts……… in the shed?
ans. They would have identified them selves in the infant, they very well know that it
would be torn in to pieces if left in the bin. They didn’t want the innocent face to
have such an end.
5.Each closed group………with the beggars?
ans. As every group has its own code of conduct, so is the case with beggars. They
have a set of rules to be followed which seen shocking to outsiders. Their team
work may evoke jealousy in others.
6.Explain why the boys………..infant?
ans. ‘Chutki’ means the smallest and the cutest one. They would have chosen the name
because its an infant who looked cute and had a short life.
Culture point : Female Infanticide (page 17)
Satya Meva Jayate, Aamir Khan’s maiden television show made the country hooked to their television sets one fine Sunday morning. It came as a surprise package of overwhelming emotions and disturbing facts clubbed together in a laudable concept and notice-worthy script. It’s about the female infanticide in India.
We regularly see the headlines in news papers like, ‘The body of an infant found’, ‘Father killed his daughter’, ‘Abandoned infant found’. It’s hard to believe that these heinous acts happen in a country like India, where women are given prime honour traditionally.
Reports say that a whopping 78,847 girls in Andhra Pradesh have fallen prey to either female infanticide or female foeticide between 2005 and 2011, according to government officials who have investigated the rapid decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) in the state.
Sex selection may be one of the contributing factors of infanticide. According to a recent report by one of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls and women are missing in India’s population as a result of systematic sex discrimination. Hence, strict laws are framed against sex revelation during pregnancy.
Infanticide is often a response to an unwanted birth. Preventing unwanted pregnancies through improved sex education and increased contraceptive access are advocated as ways of preventing infanticide. Some say that where abortion is illegal, as in Pakistan, infanticide would decline if safer legal abortions were available.
Screening for psychiatric disorders or risk factors, and providing treatment or assistance to those at risk may help prevent infanticide.
Granting women employment raises their status and autonomy. Having a gainful employment can raise the perceived worth of females. This can lead to an increase in the number of women getting an education and a decrease in the number of female infanticide. As a result, the infant mortality rate will decrease and economic development will increase.
Culture point: Hypocrisy (page-18)
People express………….. religion
The hypocritical show is clearly depicted in morning bells. They are concerned with rituals alone and not the true sense of prayer and the essence of religion. A religion teaches to be piteous to others, tom serve them and to help. But it is notfollowed by the temple-goers in the stories.
Culture point: Economy
Relate ………………story
A temple promotes service and sympathetic approach from the down trodden. It
enables service to the needy. It gives the scope to give the society whatever needed
Culture point: Beggary
He means that one could do easy money through begging. One need not work hard
or struggle for survival if he begs. He considers begging to be a sort of
employment.
Culture point: Abandoned children (page-20)
The temple goers concerned about them selves and their family alone. They are not kind enough like the rag pickers. The rag pickers have been nearer to god by displaying their generosity, sympathy and kindness.
Reading Journal (page-20)
Re-narrate the story from chutki’s view point.
I was very happy to enter this world and have been counting seconds fro myarrival. I was proud that I am a female but happiness didn’t last long. As soon as I was born, I had to face the rejection fro being a female. No one was ready to feed, touch me or even to look at me. I was astonished by their reaction. Even more, my mother was blamed and abused fro having given birth to me, a female one. She pleaded every one but couldn’t convince them finally, I was secretly thrown into a garbage bin. I struggle for a while to breathe but had to give up after a few minutes. I was found by some rag pickers. They took me home dissatisfying a stray dog which was eager to eat me. They stopped on their way to buy a few flowers and some incense sticks. They were given awful looks by the pious and rich people over there.
A pit was dug in their home. I was placed inside the pit and was covered bymud; they put the followers and lit the incense sticks. They prayed fro me on kneels. I lied there peacefully, happy fro the burial.
Project (page 21)
1.An article on Rag-Pickers
ans. Rag pickers play an important, but usually unrecognized role in the waste management system of Indian cities. They collect garbage in search of recyclable items that can be sold to scrap merchant (paper, plastic, tin...) This activity requires no skill and is a source of income for a growing number of urban poor. In India, over a million people find livelihood opportunities through waste picking.
Rag pickers are mostly women who come from the most marginalized groups of the population and often live in unauthorized slums in the poorest neighbourhood.
Studies also show that rag pickers are most of the time migrants who had fled their city or village because of hard living conditions. The vast majority of the rag pickers are Dalits or minorities.
Many children begin working as rag pickers at the young age of five or six years.Most of them never attend school and don’t have any formal education. Their families are generally in need of extra incomes from their children.
There are two categories of child rag pickers: the street pickers, who collect garbage in street bins or residential areas, and dump pickers who work on dumping grounds.
Girls were traditionally more involved in rag picking than boys, but adolescent girls are less involved in rag picking because it is believed to be unsafe for them to be out on the street. They are involved in taking care of the house chores and help in sorting the collected garbage from home.
Some of the child rag pickers go to school and work the other part of the day or during holidays. Some girls are found working as rag pickers in the morning, sometimes attending school in the afternoon and coming back home in theevening to help their mother with the household chores or to care for their younger siblings.
Impact of rag picking on the life of children
They have to face several health issues as they always work in filthy environment. They are prone to many diseases like respiratory problems, anemia, fever etc.
They don’t show any interest to go to school and hence remain illiterates. They even withdraw from schools as they could earn money through rag picking.
Some improvements in their work conditions
Many NGOs are supporting the rag pickers to gain access to the basic services (health care, health insurance, education and vocational training). They also provide legal support or counselling sessions and help them form unions to speak up for their rights.
In some cities, their work has been partly recognized and their situation thus improved. In Pune, the municipal corporation now issues identity cards to rag pickers and offers a limited health insurance plan, recognizing their contribution to recycling waste in the city
This acknowledgement can have a positive impact on reducing child labour by increasing the parent’s income therefore reducing their dependence on the money their children earn.
Case Study – Narasaraopet
Kumari, 11 years old, has 3 brothers. Her father died; and her mother is weak and gets sick very often. She and her 12-year-old brother are the bread winners of the family.
Kumari’s day begins early morning; she cooks rice, prepares tea and goes with her brother round the town for rag picking. She returns home when the sun is highin the sky. After taking bath and meal she looks after her younger brother. Around 3 pm she starts second round of rag picking and comes back around 7 PM. She cooks the evening meal and does other house hold work.
She dreams to become teacher but hardly find any time to go to school. She wants to play with the doll, which she found during her daily rag collection. She is growing up and has lots of questions but no one to answer them. She dreams of collecting lots of money and going back to school and lead a life she wanted to.
2. The Rights of the child
Every human being under the age of 18 is considered to be a child. While all children need protection, some need special attention. They are- homeless children, orphaned or abandoned children, child beggars, children of sex workers, children affected by natural disasters, children suffering from terminal diseases, disabled children etc.
The Indian Constitution has a framework within which ample provisions exist for the protection, development and welfare of children. There are a wide range of laws that guarantee children their rights and entitlements as provided in the Constitution and in the UN Convention.
Every child has the following rights, as per the Indian Constitution-
Right to free and compulsory education for all children in the 6-14 year age group (Article 21A)
Right to be protected from any hazardous employment till the age of 14 years (Article 24)
Right to be protected from being abused and forced by economic necessity to enter occupations unsuited to their age or strength (Article 39(e))
Right to equal opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and youth against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment (Article 39(f))
Right to equality (Article 14)
Right against discrimination (Article 15)
Right to personal liberty and due process of law (Article 21)
Right to being protected from being trafficked and forced into bonded labour (article 23)
Right of weaker sections of the people to be protected from social injustice and all forms of exploitation (Article 46)
These rights could be put in simple as-
The right to education
The right to Expression
The right to information
The right to Nutrition
The right to Health and Care
The right to protection from Abuse
The right to protection from Exploitation
The right to protection from Neglect
The right to development
The right to Recreation
The right to Name and Nationality
The right to Survival
Every child has the right to avail his rights and it’s the prime duty of the government and the elders to see that every child utilizes the rights provided for him.
3. Eco-friendly Garbage Management
Waste management is an important part of infrastructure for cities, towns and countries. Today’s busy lives are interested to use everything that is disposable and it generates piles of waste in the environment.
The Namakkal Municipality can be taken as an ideal municipality which has become Zero Garbage Town from 01.07.2003. It has implemented various activities in order to achieve this. They followed steps like—door to door collection of garbage with segregation, sale of recyclable waste, manufacturing vermin compost from organic waste, door to door collection and sweeping on all holidays and Sundays, 100% removal of garbage daily etc. It has become the first Dust bin free town in the world.
We should try to practice a few of these steps to make our town, an eco friendly one. Firstly, the people of the town need to be motivated well. We should see that every person comes forward and co-operate. We should take the individual responsibility in managing the waste.
Let’s say NO to plastic and toxic products. It’s always better to carry a cloth bag when you go shopping. We should avoid excess packing. Paper packing is better than plastic as it is degradable.
We should buy the eco-friendly products only. It’s better to buy durable products instead of disposable and cheap products. We would better buy items that could be reused and recycled.
We should try to repair the items before replacing them. We can pass the unwanted items to our friends and family. Let’s not dump the E-waste (printers, coffee machines, refrigerators etc.) Instead, we could donate them to the needy.
Let’s not throw everything on the roads and create a mess. Let’s reduce the waste we produce like paper waste and organic waste.
Waste management is something that should be a joint effort between government, industries and citizens. Our planet suffered a tremendous damage due to mass dumped products. Recycling the products will reduce the strain on our environment and our resources.
Being aware of the products we use is contributing to the future of our planet. Waste management is manageable only if everyone does his or her part in keeping our planet healthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment