In the stillness of early morning, when most of the city is yet to stretch awake from its slumber, a quiet act of responsibility unfolds in the city. From Bole petrol pump square to Tirpude College T-Point, Dr Kumar Nirbhay, Senior Divisional Medical Officer at Railway Hospital, with gloves on, garbage catcher in hand, and resolve in his stride, walks with purpose. He carries no placard, chants no slogan, he simply picks up trash. For the last six months, he has been waging a personal battle against a civic menace - litter. “It started as a personal discomfort. Every time I walked outside my home, the beauty of the road was interrupted by this carelessness. At some point, I stopped blaming and started bending to pick garbage,” Dr Nirbhay told ‘The Hitavada’. What began as a Sunday morning activity has now become a regular part of his life; sometimes twice a week, sometimes four. Empty plastic bottles, shattered glass, wrappers, cans, polythene, nothing escapes his attention.

 

He even cleans the road divider, where trash is also dumped often. Dr Nirbhay’s persistence has not gone unnoticed; curious morning walkers have begun to stop and talk, some offer encouragement, others advice. A few have even joined him, not out of obligation, but out of admiration. One Sunday, his solo walk turned into a group effort when eight college students joined him in the clean-up. What usually took him an hour was finished in half the time. Dr Nirbhay recalled that as they rested, one student asked that should they come again next Sunday? Dr Nirbhay replied that the real change will happen in spreading the movement, not concentrating it at one location. He added that if they clean the same area every week, only one place shines, but if each of them cleans just 100 metres around their own house, eight different places become better.

 

Dr Nirbhay explained that for many, the natural reaction is ‘not my trash, not my responsibility’. “I wish cleaning surroundings become a normal act, not something that needed special praise or initiatives. It should just be a normalised part of lifestyle,” he stated with hope. He also added that if each resident only takes care of 100 metres around his or her house, the results would be incredible. Referring to local infrastructure, Dr Nirbhay noted, “In Civil Lines area, bins are placed regularly, but their size should be larger. More importantly, people must use them.” He believed the real issue lies in the mindset. “When Indians go abroad, they do not litter. They put trash in their pockets or bags until they find a bin.

 

But here, people behave as if it does not matter. Educated people know better, but even they throw garbage casually,” he remarked. Dr Nirbhay does not see himself as a hero. “I am just picking up what someone else dropped, and silently hoping they will not drop it again,” he stated. In an an age where hashtags are louder than habits, where the impulse is to wait for someone else to act, Dr Kumar Nirbhay’s action reflected that the boldest act of citizenship sometimes lies in something as simple as bending down and picking up what is not yours. Dr Nirbhay motto is simple, ‘No speeches, no selfies, no slogans. Just action’. “So the next time one spots a piece of plastic lying on the road, let hesitation turn into action,” he concluded.