I never thought Mr Rahul Katariya would be asking his son to work with those kids. After all he was the district magistrate (dm) . Sure he was a dalit , but now things have changed. From the debilitating memories of his childhood in merrut where his father was a daily wage labourer , to his current lucrative and glistening routine , status and lifestyle, all has been modified. Everything went fine untill that day, when his 14 yr old son asked himAdd New
– why he was a dalit ?
Mr Katariya was surprised because he has never told his son about caste , but the surname gave it all . It was the 10th standard and everybody had to tell their identity . Sadly economic success couldn’t take over social hierarchy. It has been 10 years since That day . His son is now 24 and has became a social activist. He goes to small ‘bastis'(slums) to ask people what is it to live in the country with the highest no. Of millionaires. His father is a bit skeptical about this work. But he still helps his son and his team (a bunch of 20yr olds with creative ?) . Some of the things that they did include –
- ?. Establishing metal based covers for all the nalis around the city , which can be opened during monsoon and closed thereafter .
- ?.cleaning the open grounds earlier used for dumping waste and planting them with fruits and vegetables which does help the slum kids to get a full meal at least once a day .The malnutrition rates have declined too.
- ?.distributing organic khad to farmers all around the city. Which has substantially increased the soil fertility rates.
- ?.spreading 1family 1 car policy, ofcourse some rich resisted but the common people were fine with it , because the car prices went down. Therefore now everybody could have a car and that too without polluting the environment.
- ?. Setting a decible limit for the town .So now everybody could sleep without caring about the noise pollution.
Mr Katariya got the annual innovative accolade prize from the President this year. It’s ironical that even after becoming a collector he only got recognition after he subscribed to his a bit castist but hereditary work of cleaning the environment. Now he too participates with his son. Not to prove his dalit identity but to show his human identity. And to show why it is important to make others life better when you are in the position of privilege Every human deserves a prosperous and healthy life! – Yatin Bhashakar✨