Review Details

The cover illustration of Wasted is as captivating as is the book itself. The picture of a child rag-picker on a mound of urban garbage hopping in a wanton mood, unmindful of the risk it involves, and how the garbage dumps become the treasure-troves of the doubly underprivileged, speaks volumes about ‘the messy story of sanitation in India’.
The book under review problematizes waste management in India in a manner where the author tries to disentangle the intertwining of caste, sanitation, attitude towards hygiene and the deep-rooted apathy towards filth. Despite the entire landscape of India being dotted with untended mounds of garbage, overflowing open sewers, men urinating shamelessly in public places, open defecation being enjoyed as a group event, and poor children sieving garbage mound for sustenance, neither the state in particular nor the citizens in general show any concern about the havoc that such ‘Waste’ creates for the entire society. Why are Indians so stubbornly undisciplined in keeping their surroundings clean? Why is it that Indians keep their homes relatively clean while on the other hand they treat the public space as their rightfully owned dumping ground for all kinds of garbage? This book provides an insight into the psyche of Indian society at large as far as waste disposal and treatment of public space is concerned.