Mottainai Grandma: Maruti Suzuki uses Japanese picture book to teach children on reuse, recycle and waste burning

An effective way to tackle urbanisation-related problems—improper dumping of garbage, polluting of sewage systems, open defecation, waste-burning—is to drive behavioural change, especially among children. Towards that, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) along with Japan International Cooperation Agency has started storytelling sessions based on Mottainai Grandma, a Japanese picture book, at the schools the company supports. The first of such sessions was conducted last week at the Govt Girls Primary School in Kasan village near Gurgaon. Ajay Tomer, ED, Corporate Planning, MSI, said, “Mottainai, in Japanese, means ‘do not waste’. We are confident this activity will strengthen our community development projects by driving behavioural change and contribute to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”. Soon, a car with 300 books will accompany the storytelling troop as a mobile library, and it will visit 30 schools in Delhi NCR.