The ride was organised by Indus Cycling Embassy and its founding member Prakash P Gopinath
The cycling team made a stopover before a muddled waste heap in the Mascot Hotel-Co-bank Tower Road
An early morning cycling ride in a caressing wintry breeze is balm for the soul and senses. The slower the pedal, the calmer the mind becomes. The city’s fitness corridor, as it may be called, the Vellayambalam-Museum stretch, witnessed on Monday morning a team of men and women, irrespective of age, flocking straight from Mavaveeyam Veedhi on bicycles to a spot in front of Co-Bank Towers. Sure, some larger good lay beyond a physical exercise that was labelled loud and clear on the message cards put up on each cycle - ‘Be responsible for your own garbage’.
Led by Indus Cycling Embassy and its founding member Prakash P Gopinath, this was the beginning of a wake-up call ‘God’s Own Garbage Ride’. Maybe no other title can evoke the NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard)-afflicted multitude in the chronic stage of tossing out leftovers generated by themselves onto someone else’s property or public spaces.
The cycling team made a stopover before a muddled waste heap in the Mascot Hotel-Co-bank Tower Road.
They began digging into the slushy pile. Jennifer Nausch from Germany who was actively involved in the work was not repelled by the huge heap. Jennifer, who can speak impeccable Malayalam in a year-long stay in the capital city, however raised a question to the locals, “Does God’s own garbage go down well with you?”
Picking exemplary waste management systems in practice back in her home state of Hamburg such as proper segregation, recycle and reuse of materials, Jennifer continued, “I am speaking as a global citizen. My perspective is to do what I can for a better tomorrow. We live here and we breath the air, it’s the responsibility of every citizen to reduce waste in the long run and save our water and soil through strategic and systematic ways.”
Forces of distractions were not behind, when a local man came shouting at the volunteers in a, ‘You can’t do anything’ manner. A quick interest drew some wayfarers there to stay and watch the activities and the crew members were happy to share their mission and message with the newly-found companions.
With youngsters from campuses joining in, the number shot up to around 50 by afternoon, the energy boosters for a litter-free tomorrow.