CLEANLINESS NEXT TO GODLINESS

It is believed Goddess Lakshmi appreciates cleanliness in a house on Diwali and that she visits the cleanest house first. So, get into the act and make your house shine, exhorts Vivek Shukla
With Diwali hardly a fortnight away, have you started ‘mission clean’ of your home or office to appease Goddess Lakshmi? If not yet, don’t delay this important assignment! You’re clean and clutter less space can fetch you huge returns, in case you either rent out or sell it. It is believed Goddess Lakshmi appreciates cleanliness in the house on Diwali — there is also an age-old belief that Goddess Lakshmi visits the cleanest house first.
Lamps are lit in the evening to welcome the Goddess and to light up her path into the house. Now, despite all our claims to modernity in our outlook, we start with the mop and swab at our homes and offices as the festival of lights approaches. However, some property owners don’t make any effort even during Diwali to make their properties neat and clean. Realty experts also strongly emphasize on the fact that properties that are aglow easily fetch better deals for their owners than those that are unclean.
Islam also requires a Muslim to clean his body, his clothes, his house, and the whole community’s living space. According to Khalid Ahmed, an Islamic scholar, Prophet Muhammad said: “Removing any harm from the road is charity (that will be rewarded by Allah).” Khalid says, “While people generally consider cleanliness a desirable attribute, Islam insists upon it, making it an indispensable tenet.” In the real estate, shabby-looking and badly maintained properties fail to attract the attention of prospective buyers and tenants.
Just visit any residential or commercial area, and you will easily find some properties that are spick and span inside out, while there are several others in an active state of neglect. It is really sad that some properties are hugely undervalued due only to the sheer apathy of their owners, who spoil the premium these properties can otherwise command. Unlike the shining and glowing offices and homes, unclean properties look very ominous too.
“It is a well-known fact that many properties suffer due to either sheer irresponsible attitude of their owners or when only the aged owners live in their house and their kids live abroad or elsewhere,” says Alimuddin Rafi Ahmed, CMD of ILD group. Realtors are of the opinion that apart from the fact that houses situated at nice locations like near parks or close to bus stands; the neat and clean houses are liked by one and all. Properties that are given a coat of whitewash at regular intervals, apart from granite polishing, and having nice fixtures in kitchens and bathrooms make a house attractive. And a house with manicured lawns is the most sought after. Even the minutiae matter - like clean switchboards!
Such properties will fetch their owner fabulous returns unlike those that are left to the mercy of god. R K Arora, CMD of Supertech Ltd, says, “It goes without saying that those who care for their houses also get nice returns. But often, in cases of property disputes, houses tend to be neglected and they fall into disrepair. In such a scenario, the disputant parties hardly spend any money on the maintenance part of the house.” Meanwhile, realtors have suggestion for all those who don’t keep their properties neat and clean — even if one were in some financial crisis, they must whitewash the property during Diwali time, or on some such occasion, regularly, if only to keep the price of the establishment intact.
Mahatma Gandhi used to say in his prayer meetings that “cleanliness is next to godliness”. And more often than not, he used to write in Navajivan the importance of cleanliness in our lives. On the issue of our unhygienic habits, Gandhiji strongly emphasized upon observing cleanliness in lavatories, and wrote in Navajivan on May 24, 1925: “I learnt 35 years ago that a lavatory must be as clean as a drawing room. I learnt this in the West. I believe that many rules about cleanliness in lavatories are observed more scrupulously in the West than in the East. The cause of many of our diseases is the condition of our lavatories and our bad habit of disposing of excreta anywhere and everywhere. I, therefore, believe in the absolute necessity of a clean place for answering the call of nature and clean articles for use at the time, have accustomed myself to them and wish that all others should do the same. The habit has become so firm in me that even if I wished to change it I would not be able to do so. Nor do I wish to change it.”
Courtesy:- TOI dt:- 03-10-09