Meet the Plogman of India: RipuDaman Bevli

On the first day of 2020, I was on a trek with my friends Milind, Ankita, and Sarthak. We had climbed Mount Takao, in Japan and when we got down from the trek, we were amazed to see that People were washing the soles of their shoes with a brush and some running water to ensure they don’t carry the dirt of the trail into the city. We were zapped, and making videos of them doing something that was routine for them but so extraordinary for us.

And just a day before that, we had run a 120 kms from Tokyo to Mount Fuji, and we had all challenged ourselves to find a piece of trash or any instance of littering. But in the entire stretch of 120kms, all 8 of us collectively found 1 candy wrapper on the street. And we all suspected that this must have been thrown by one of us - Indians. I know it’s shameful to think that way, but you know, and you KNOW, it’s quite likely to be one of us.

At home, unfortunately, what ought to be common civic sense isn’t common at all. Here, we can’t walk a 120 meters without seeing litter on the road, let alone kms before seeing trash. Our streets and roads are quite literally, not metaphorically, full of trash. And we all get very angry when we walk by heaps of foul smelling stuff. But who’s throwing it there? It’s not me, and I hope it’s not you. But whether we are or aren’t a part of the problem, there’s something you and I can do to be a part of the solution.

Welcome to episode 17. This conversation is with Ripu Daman Bevli, who’s better known as the plogman of India, or the plogging ambassador of India, which is a title given to him by the government of India for his contribution to the littering crisis in the country and for introducing and popularizing the concept of plogging in India.

What is plogging?

Plogging is a Swedish term which is a combination of two verbs ‘plocca upp’ which means Pick up, and and Jogga (jogging). So picking up litter while jogging is called Plogging.

This is what today’s guest started doing a few years ago, all by himself. A few people joined in, and in less than half a decade it has become a national movement that has touched over a crore people. Think about that number for a second. Mind you this is not a digital service, these are not a crore app downloads, we’re talking of real human beings coming out and picking up trash not thrown by them. How’s that for an impact?

Ripu is now fairly well known and His efforts have won him recognitions such as A global Impact citizen by global impact network, USA. Social media activist of the year by cosmopolitan magazine and a few others. Most notably, at least for all Indians, he was called by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or as you might prefer - ‘Modiji’ on episode 57 of his radio show ‘Mann Ki baat’.

But wait, how did he land up here? Wasn’t he running the corporate rat race? Where did he get the means? Who taught him, who gave him the money? Spoiler alert: Nobody.

It’s a truly inspiring story of a boy raised by a single mother with limited resources, who has ended up starting a movement that’s capable of changing the conscience of our society at large, and if you listen to this episode to the end, and you decide to do your bit, who knows, our streets might someday be as clean as the ones in Japan.

Sounds great, I know, but Kaafi far fetched lag raha hai na? Sirf mere badalne se kya ho jayega. I feel you. But Ripu’s story will demonstrate to you the magnitude of impact ONE ORDINARY MAN is capable of achieving.

Let’s dive right in. This is me and Ripu Daman Bevli in the find your ultra podcast episode 17, Enjoy!

Follow RipuDaman bevli on instagram

https://www.instagram.com/plogmanofindia/

Follow his communities

https://www.instagram.com/ploggersofindia/

https://www.instagram.com/litterfreeindia/

Follow your host Vipin Sharma

https://www.instagram.com/ultravipin/

#PlogmanofIndia #Ploggersofindia #Plogging #Swatchhbharat #FitIndia #fitness #socialactivist #Environmentalist #Changemaker