The clean-up act

Intended to promote a national movement on civility, it lacks a clean raison d’être

Avoid excessive use of hand gestures as it can cause stress to others” reads an instructional nugget, part of a chapter called Day to Day Decency in a book on etiquette and hygiene by former cop Kiran Bedi. The book, Broom & Groom, has been co-authored by Pavan Choudary, who calls himself a wisdom educator.

Let’s face it: Indians aren’t known to have the most evolved standards of social etiquette and personal hygiene. But is a guidebook—one that fashions itself as a nation-building exercise, no less—an answer to that? Will people who make revolting guttural noises to cough up phlegm divorce their long-standing morning ritual after they read: “Be aware if you get phlegm and get treated for it.”

Bedi is the winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. She has authored books in the past and hosts a popular television show, Aap ki Kachehri. Choudary has authored several books and also hosts a television show on Doordarshan called Hum Aise Kyon Hain.

Full report here Mint 

Inspiration personified

People Kiran Bedi on her social initiatives and her new book, Groom & Broom

India's first woman IPS officer Dr. Kiran Bedi launched her book Groom & Broom (Wisdom Village, Publication Division), Rs. 195). Her conviction and honesty snaps you to immediate attention and for as long as she speaks, every word she says stirs feelings of awe and respect within. Remarkable indeed is the fact that despite pressing commitments and limited time, her attention never once wavered during the interview.

Bedi is hopeful that Groom & Broom will hold up a mirror to its reader reflect on themselves. “We are becoming more tolerant towards incivility. All of us are being negatively impacted by uncivil behaviour and we see it everywhere—between child and parent, in our state assemblies where MPs and MLAs throw mikes at each other, in our media where there's more shouting and less speaking and in our poor service delivery systems. We are talking management and leadership all the time, but we forget that decency and decorum lies at its very core. It's time we address this issue,” Dr. Bedi says with characteristic conviction.

Full report here Hindu

Mind your manners

A book with a hope to improve the civic sense of our society is out

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.”

Full report here Hindu

Ahead of CWG, Kiran Bedi's book on civic sense

Moved by the 'not so good' image of civic sense of Indians among foreigners, India's first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi has brought out suggestions for laymen to improve their civic behaviour ahead of the Commonwealth Games. "There are article after article in foreign nations is calling Indians unhygienic and dirty. Being a true Indian, I wanted to change the scenario," says Kiran Bedi who has collaborated with socio-political thinker, Pavan Chaudary for the book Broom and Groom.

With an introduction by former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the hardbound book suggests globally accepted manners and etiquette and features a muppet and other illustrations on its Delhi on August 25.

Full report here HIndustan Times