A teacher’s clean sweep in Ballari

Helping hand

Nagaraj, a physical education teacher at the government high school in Bayalu Thumbaraguddi near Kotturu, Ballari district, is known for a service that goes beyond the school and spills on to roads.

For the last 12 years, Nagaraj has been cleaning Kotturu’s lanes and by-lanes with pourakarmikas. He helps them for about an hour every morning before heading to the school.

It started with an advice. His father Megha Nayak was a jawan at Kottureshwara College. He prioritised cleanliness everywhere and through his hard work also expanded the green cover on the college campus.

Haunting words

As Nagaraj remembers, “He advised me to work towards cleanliness of the surroundings. I did not pay attention. He adviced the same when I became a school teacher. I ignored it then, too.” But after the demise of his father due to ill-health, the same advice began haunting Nagaraj.

“I then vowed to follow his words,” he explains. Nagaraj, while wondering where to start, saw pourakarmikas at work. “I thought my father’s advice would work well if I joined them,” he says. Nagaraj, once worried about the reactions from his wife, mother and friends, says, “One fine day in 2012, I went out of the house and joined pourakarmikas to clean the streets.”

There were sharp reactions from his family. Some pourakarmikas warned that he would lose respect, and a few asked if he quit his job to become one of them. However, Nagaraj carried on.

“I noticed that pourakarmikas had paid the least attention to their health. I stressed the need to maintain physical and mental health. Today, health has become a priority to many of them,” he adds.

Nagaraj has not only reformed pourakarmikas, but also the mindset of people. A few years ago, none of the residents called pourakarmikas by names. Now, many residents remember the names and even thank the pourakarmikas for cleaning the lanes of Kotturu.

To Nagaraj, pourakarmikas are like doctors. “A doctor treats a disease, while a pourakarmika prevents the outbreak of diseases by keeping surroundings clean,” he stresses.

Satish Patil, a professor, believes that it’s difficult for others to emulate Nagaraj. “His courage should be appreciated,” he says.

Krishnappa and Huligesh, two pourakarmikas, add that Nagaraj works more than them sometimes.

“We feel happy when he is with us. He felicitates us by presenting shawls on Poura Karmika Day,” says Huligesh.

“He respects us at a time when many others have forgotten that we too are human beings,” adds Krishnappa.

Awareness drive

To share the importance of cleanliness, Nagaraj has staged street plays. “We formed a troupe and staged street plays in every gram panchayat,” he recalls. He plans to set up a welfare fund to train pourakarmikas in street plays and has roped in students.

On weekends, he goes around villages narrating stories and reciting songs about cleanliness.

Now, if Nagaraj stays back at his house, his daughter wants know why he hasn’t gone out to clean the streets.