The Garbage Picker ...

The Garbage Picker ! ...

Every morning he walks around in the neighbourhood , with his dirty green push and pull garbage cart . A whistle that is his trademark , loud and clear . A signal to all the residents to get their garbage and dump it in his cart . 

He himself is dirty and shabby and wears a Municipal fluorescent orange half coat over his torn shirt . 

One thing i keep noticing is that people treat their garbage with more respect than they treat him . Not a normal word is spoken . 

He has a name which I think even he has forgotten over the years . People call him ... '' Hey Kuppa '' ( kuppa being garbage in Tamil ! ) or '' Aie Kuppakaara '' ( Garbage man ) .

And the worst thing is he responds to this atrocious addressing without even a crease on his forehead . As if resigning to fate ! How ridiculuous is that ? Cant he turn around and tell them that his name is not GArbage and Picking garbage is his Profession that he does with more Honesty and sincerity than they would ever do their own jobs in Airconditioned offices . Or just because he is a garbage picker , that deprives him of all the basic Humane rights ? 

He is often spoken to only in loud rude tones . People he is not deaf and neither is he a paid slave nor are we in an era of slavery .

Also I think untouchability is long dead . So stop treating him like dirt on the floor .

Can you even imagine how your posh locality streets or even your neat home would smell or look like if he did not come for even a day ??

 Could you even think about putting your hand in your garbage bin to take out a piece of paper you accidently dropped into it . 

This man ,who is appointed by the Indian Municipal Corporation is not even given a decent work wear ! Shouldnt he be given overalls , boots , gloves and tools to help him do his job while taking care of himself too ?

How many of us sit in posh offices and complain that our chairs are not soft enough or the AC is not cool enough or that the canteen offers only 6 different dishes every day !!!

This man does not have the comforts of a big office or a canteen for warm meals . Maybe not even a fresh drink of water . He walks around in the blazing sun , somedays without slippers too . Cleans filthy garbage with his bare hands that he occasionally cleans on his shirt which could be the only one he has . 

He is treated as filth but he still smiles and does his work meticulously and well . He never frowns when he cleans out the worst filth from your homes .....ranging from plain pieces of paper , to spat out food .....kitchen waste ...nappies with everything ..... leftover food that is wasted without a thought and used and dirty sanitary pads too . Would you even touch all this with your hands while putting it into the waste bin in the first place ?! 

You would use tissues and paper and spatulas and spoons and newspapers and what not to help you dispose these stuff ! 

Once when i asked him why he does not use gloves and does he not feel dirty when cleans with his hands ....He simply smiled and said Madam i help so many people keep their homes and street clean . Its ok if I get a little dirty . 

Such simplicity and goodness that goes painfully Unnoticed !  

Also let me tell you in this whole colony he is the most polite , most pleasant , the most Positive and most hardworking person ever . 

My Todays Hero is Mr. Velu .

Profession : Cleaner or rather Social Worker 

Age : Unknown ...could be 30s 

Here is to all the Mr.Velu s out there who get themselves dirty , bear insults , get yelled at , clean filth .... But still manage to smile and wake up every single morning and push the cart around , blowing the whistle and helping us Be clean ! 

Isn't Velu more Valuable than any Inspirational Quote we can ever read in the Morning !