THERE is stench all around us. Dirt piling up, people urinating on the roads and defecating in the open – all these continue to offend our sensibilities. So, suddenly when there came a prime minister who stood upon the ramparts of the Red Fort to address all of us, on the issue confronting all of us, we are all more than happy. Here comes the doer! Come tomorrow, we need not be closing our nostrils when we move around! More than all this, we need not be ashamed of our roads, cities or our country. Particularly, before foreigners. Doer, he is, deliver he will. We all believed happily, our pride redeemed!

Swachh Bharat! Suddenly, ministers appeared on the roads with brooms, actors, celebrities and who not! Even those industrialists, who commanded wealth in hundreds of crores! Those who might have never even cleaned their office tables or seats! All of them came before the cameras, sweating profusely, brooms and cleaners in hand, pledging to clean our roads, cities and country. Suddenly, it appeared that our dreams of cleanliness are being realised. Doer, isn't he?

Days passed, so did weeks and months, the euphoria died away, the cameras turned to other stories. Things once again regained normalcy. Actors were shooting, ministers, shouting; industrialists issuing show-cause notices to their employees for not cleaning their tables...all are back to their own respective work. Our roads and cities too returned to normalcy. Dust piled up, stench is back with a bang. Our middle class pride got once again hurt. A deep sigh, was all that we could heave.

At least let us keep our homes clean. Isn't it repeatedly harped that if we are good, the society will be good; if everybody looks after themselves, the society will be safe; if we keep our homes clean, so does everybody and thus the entire country will be clean. With this resolve, dusting our house, we found an old book of poems written by one of the early generation modern Telugu writers, who had reshaped the usage of language as a medium of expression, ringing in the colloquial. Turning the pages for nostalgia sake, eyes fell of the first few lines of a famous poem he had written, titled, Deshbhakti (Patriotism). He wrote: Desamante matti kadoi, desamante manushulloi (roughly translated: Country does not mean soil, country means its people). Is it? Or not?

Suddenly, Swachh Bharat sprang before. Swachh Bharat? Is it roads, cities and the country that needs to be clean or is there something deeper that deserves a thorough cleansing? Yes, roads and spaces in the country need to be cleaned. But before that, there is a deeper rot in the country that needs to be cleansed. After all, doesn't our country mean, its people?

Two months old children are burnt alive in Haryana. Petrol was poured into their house where they were sleeping and torched. Crime, they are born dalits. A bigger crime, their parents complained against the upper-caste in their village and sought police protection.

A school boy in Rajasthan is severely beaten. His crime is, he touched the plates put apart for the upper-caste children for serving their mid-day meals. A bigger crime, for which he is not responsible is, being born into a dalit family.

A young girl, returning to her house is waylaid, abducted, raped and killed. Crime, she is born dalit. A bigger crime, for which she is not responsible is, she is born a girl.

A young writer from Karnataka was severely beaten up for having written a collection of poems against untouchability. His crime, he is a dalit writer.

A young boy, sitting in the front bench of his college was beaten. Crime, he is a dalit. A bigger crime, he dared to enter a college to study and pursue his dreams.

Another young boy from an IIT was forced to end his life. He was ragged and harassed as a 'non-performer', 'country brute', etc, etc. Crime, he was a dalit, who was courageous to enter an IIT, the elite, premier institute of our country, where the unwritten code is: reserved for the upper-caste, moneyed and elites only.

A student in AIIMS repeatedly failed in his examinations, in one particular subject. In all other subjects, he performed exceedingly well. Crime, he is a dalit, as his teacher had identified him. A bigger crime is, he fought against this injustice, discrimination and brought it to the light before the whole world. Through him, we came to know that dalit students in AIIMS, the super-speciality, premier health institute in our country, cannot play basketball, cricket, are not allowed to reside in the ground, first and second floors of the hostels. These are all reserved for the elite, upper-castes. They can play volleyball and stay in the top floors.

This being the mindset of some of the people in our country is not something surprising. What stumps all this is the comments made from some of the members of our higher echelons of judiciary. Reservations, it seems are a ‘privilege’ and are ‘competing with eternity’. Their humble suggestion/request/direction to the government is: consider putting a stop to them.

Unfortunately, they were stumped by some others who are the ring masters of the ruling party in our country. Their direct and blunt advice is: put a stop to reservations.

Buoyed by hearing 'his master's voice', a minister went a step further and compared dalits with dogs. Nothing surprising here too, as we have a prime minister who drew an analogy for Muslims, with puppies.

Isn't it these people who are polluting the country? Don't you think the country needs to be cleansed of such ideas?

Now, don't be surprised if some announced, unknown guests, knock your door and enter your kitchen. Sorry, it is an affront to their humility. They don't knock, they break the doors and enter. They just smell what is cooking and enter. Irrespective of what is being cooked, they will make or break your day. Sorry, once again, an affront to them – they never make a day for anyone, they only break. Depending on where you live, what your name is, they decide what you are cooking. Not on the basis of what is in the pot. If your name and place do not fall in the straitjacket of their ideology or thinking, they will break you. Affront, once again. They will kill. Is this not what had happened in Dadri?

People are moving around, checking your antecedents. Forget about your Aadhar card, iris scan and bio-metric data, which the State can use, if it deems it necessary against you. Danger is lurking now in every corner. Your name is enough to fix you. Damn these names, they give out who you are – a dalit, a Muslim, or a Christian. But a rationalist and atheist? Your pen gives you away. Cap it.

Yes, cap that pen. Forget about the Constitution, right to freedom of speech, expression, etc. They decide what ought to be written, what ought not. They interpret what was written and why it was written. You believed that history cannot be changed? Think again. History textbooks can be re-written and paraded as history. Gullible are ready to be trapped.

Are you a woman? No need of your name, your appearance gives you away. That's enough, for being an object. That's sufficient for abusing. That's all they need, to harass, rape and exploit. There is a certain age to gain admission in a creche or a school. But there is no age to be raped and killed. They celebrate Rama, but ogle at women in the country. Sita is not to be blamed. But Indian women are. It is they who attract men, who dress to be rapes and be killed.

Don't you think all this to be a morass in the country that deserves to be cleaned? How can Bharat be Swachh, with all these kind of rotten, stinky ideas still circulating? It is time to clean our country of all this maleen.

Again to quote from the Telugu poet: vatti matalu katti petti, gatti melu talapetta voi (Stop talking, start doing something good for the country). And only then that our country will become a place where, as he writes, in another instance: kulamulanni kuli poovunu, matamulanni maasi poovunu, antah swarga sukhamulannavi avani villasillun (All castes will break down, all religions will disappear, heaven will come down to earth).

It is time for us to take the broom and start the process of cleansing. Where shall we begin? Look around and begin at the nearest point. Swachh Bharat!