Knock Knock: Who Cleans Your Loo?

Food for thought: 60% of Mumbaikars get other people to clean their loos.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan on 2 October, 2014, also Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. The objective behind the campaign: Clean India in 5 years.

The PM roped in actors, politicians and businessmen to support the campaign. Sixty days on, with the photo-ops losing their lustre, the campaign seems to have faded away. Or not ? More importantly, what does cleanliness really mean to us ? And how many of us actually clean our own dirt?

The reason we posed this question is simple. Our ability to tackle the dirt in our own environment is in many ways a reflection of our concern for the larger issue too. More importantly, if we do not clean our own dirt then who does it for us?

The best way to find out was to do a small exercise. Armed with a camera and a microphone, we went knocking on several doors in the bustling city of Mumbai. We asked just one question: Do you clean your loo?

The answer was perhaps to be expected. When you find out how your friends and family members approach hygiene, particularly in their private spaces you may wonder if we are expecting too much from the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.