The Indomitable Spirit of Xue Li
During my daily rounds in Tikona Park, Xue Li aka Sabrina caught my eye many mornings. Not because she is tall, super slim, and Chinese but because of what she does there, all alone that
fascinated me. We never ever see anybody doing something like that here unless the National or State elections were around the corner. I’m sure you got the drift.
She wears her gloves, holds a polybag in one hand, and picks up trash scattered in one area of the park, then empties the contents of the bag into the dustbin and repeats. Each morning, she spends about 30 min to 1 hour doing this across the park.
Curiosity got the better of me one day and I requested her to give my friend and me some time to have a brief chat about this impressive deed. What she told us was heartening and made us feel so ashamed of ourselves as residents of a respectable society.
Xue Li originally belongs to a small village in China. She’s been in India for almost 20 years now. Comparing things in her home country, she says Nature has blessed Indians with so much but unfortunately, they do not realize and cherish that. The soil in her village isn’t as fertile and one needs to toil very hard to be able to grow anything on it. Here, the soil is so prolific that anything grows easily.
Cleanliness is given very high importance in her family. Her father taught her that one must keep their home and surroundings clean.
When Xue Li started coming to Tikona Park, it was to spend some time with nature and to get away from the daily stresses. She started spotting pan masala pouches, and wrappers of other food items thrown all over and nobody bothered to throw them into the many dustbins that were present. She says all the trash is going into the soil thereby spoiling its composition. She believes in the Karma philosophy; she feels we get so much goodness from nature but what are we giving back to it?
Her message to everyone is “Please be thankful for what you have been gifted with. Do not waste food and water, and do not litter the environment. Feel peace and calm by keeping your surroundings clean. Give back to nature in a healthy manner.”
For us Indians, we should be inspired by what Xue Li, a foreigner, is doing on our land and realize the impact our actions will have if we don’t wake up now. This message doesn’t need to come to us all the way from China.
We would however like to thank Xue Li for all that she has been doing for the larger good.
