India, Sept. 14 -- "Cleanliness is next to Godliness - John Wesley 1791"

My late father used to say, "If everyone cleans their own courtyard, the whole village will get cleaned."

I have observed that a great majority of common folks also seem to believe in this wise dictum-but only partially. They do clean their own courtyards but dump their refuse in front of their neighbour's courtyard-and if they are careful to avoid conflict, in a public place! There is a pathetic display of this mentality around us, and as helpless citizens, we tolerate it, overlook it, and walk through its ugly manifestation on the ground-day in and day out!

Having lived in two of the posh localities of Delhi for the last five years (on rent, of course!), I have ...