Who Makes the Garbage?

• "If Uncle Ramu cleans the garbage… and you are the one who throws it on the road… then who is the real garbage maker?"
• Nainil J. Pandya

E very morning, before the city opened its eyes, the roads looked clean and fresh.
Children walked safely to school. Shopkeepers opened their stores. People hurried to work.
But hardly anyone stopped to wonder who had cleaned the streets before sunrise.
One morning, a little girl named Reema woke up earlier than usual.
As she looked out of her window, she heard a gentle sound.
"Swish… Swish… Swish…"
Curious, she stepped outside to see where it was coming from.
There stood a man in a bright orange jacket, sweeping the roadside with long, steady strokes of his broom.
"Good morning!" Reema said with a smile.
The man looked up and smiled back.
"Good morning!"
"What's your name, Uncle?" she asked.
"My name is Ramu," he replied.
"I'm Reema."
"It's nice to meet you, Reema."
Ramu carefully swept plastic wrappers, empty bottles, paper cups, dry leaves and other litter into his cart.
As he bent down to pick up a crumpled wrapper, Reema noticed a broken piece of glass hidden beneath it.
"Careful, Uncle!" she called out.
He quickly stepped back and smiled.
"Thank you, Reema."
"Doesn't your work hurt you?" she asked.
"Sometimes it does," he replied. "People often throw broken glass, rusty nails and other sharp objects with their garbage. We never know what is hidden inside until we pick it up. These things can injure sanitation workers, hurt stray animals and damage the environment."
Reema looked at his worn-out gloves and dusty shoes.
"You still come every morning?" she asked.
He nodded.
"If we don't clean the roads, someone else might get hurt. That's why we do our work with care."
Just then, a man walked past carrying an empty plastic water bottle.
Without even looking around, he tossed it onto the freshly swept road.
Ramu quietly picked it up.
"Sir," he said politely, "the dustbin is only a few steps away."
The man laughed.
"Why should I use it? You're the kachrewala. Cleaning garbage is your job."
For a moment, Reema thought Ramu would get angry.
Instead, he smiled gently.
"No, sir," he said calmly. "I am a sanitation worker. I don't make garbage… I clean it."
Reema looked at the plastic bottle on the road and then at the man.
She asked softly,
"If Uncle Ramu cleans the garbage… and you are the one who throws it on the road… then who is the real garbage maker?"
The man's smile disappeared.
For the first time, he noticed Ramu's tired hands, the broken glass on the roadside and the dust covering his shoes.
He stood silently for a moment.
Then, without saying another word, he picked up the plastic bottle, walked to the dustbin and dropped it inside.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Ramu smiled.
"Thank you," he replied. "When we all use the dustbin, our city becomes cleaner, and our work becomes safer."
As Ramu pushed his cart down the road, the morning sun shone brightly on the clean street behind him.
Reema smiled as she watched him continue his work.
This time, she didn't just see a man holding a broom.
She saw someone who quietly made the city cleaner, safer and healthier every single day.
Moral
Respect sanitation workers. They clean our surroundings; keeping them clean is our responsibility.