Do you have a loud irritating ringtone on your cellphone? Do you ogle at co-passengers in the lift? Or do you fight with your spouse in front of guests? If yes, you sure have a problem in your civil sense. Telling you how to go about improving it is “Broom & Groom” (Wisdom Village (Publication Division/Rs.195), a joint effort by former super cop Kiran Bedi and motivational speaker and author Pavan Choudhary.
The book was released at the Press Club, and contains an introduction by former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, in which he applauds the initiative undertaken by the authors on this relatively new subject of restaurant and banquet manners, work etiquette, gymnasium and sports field behaviour, and being a good host or house guest. Rajni Mathur's illustrations that dot the book also succeed in conveying the message.
Launching “Broom & Groom”, Bedi revealed that the authors got very conscious of their own habits while writing the book. She remarked that foreigners praise Indians as enterprising and intelligent but don't think very highly of our sense of hygiene. “We are not going to give up. A revolution of civic sense is required,” declared India's first woman IPS officer. With the Commonwealth Games just round the corner, the timing of the book couldn't have been more appropriate. Choudhary, who has penned books like “When Sinking Become a Submarine”, said, “Gandhiji said our Swaraj will stink if we do not clean our backyards. But, post-Independence, our governments have failed to provide education and infrastructure for good hygiene.”
The publisher has started a website and blog to get feedback from readers, whose suggestions will be included in the next edition of the book.
