Is it so difficult to change?

Last night I got into an argument with the security guard at a supermarket close to home because I wanted to recycle used plastic bags of the same store. After much discussion and head shaking I was finally allowed to enter with them. I realized that the words ‘environment’ or ‘paryavaran’ were totally lost on the poor chap. He just didn't understand why I wanted to enter with old plastic bags when the store could give me as many new one's as I wanted.

I have come to the realisation that any change for the better needs to be in the form of a movement for it to actually happen. If you do it as an individual the process is long and daunting. Often times I have been made to feel guilty about requesting women, in the ladies compartment, of Mumbai locals, to pick up the many groundnut shells they shove beneath the seats. I have heard men snigger when I have requested college boys to get up from the seats reserved for ladies and for senior citizens in our public buses. I have been stared at when I offer my seat to a pregnant woman or a senior citizen. I have been laughed at by passers-by when I ask people to not spit or at least to look before spitting.

I wonder - is it so difficult to remember the endorsements we have seen umpteen times on TV or in the newspaper? Is it so difficult to try and put into practice the things we have been taught in theory? And more so, is it so difficult to look at our habits and acknowledge that some can be replaced with better one’s?

Is it so difficult to change?