Zsuzsanna Ferrao has made India her home and says we should make every effort to keep it clean.
It's a Sunday ritual for Zsuzsanna Ferrao, a Hungarian woman, to visit the Rangaon beach near Vasai in Maharashtra. But she isn't another tourist prancing around the beach. She goes there to make her contribution towards cleaning the seashore. She is joined by her husband Lisbon Ferrao, a firm believer in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, three-year-old son Lucius and 19-month-old daughter Nascha.
"I consider India as my own country and believe we should make every effort to keep it clean," Ms Ferrao said.
"Some days, it is very difficult. The beach is full of rubbish. I wanted to find a clean place on the beach where my children could play. I have been living in India for the last four years and feel people should keep the beaches clean," she told PTI.
Talking her wife's initiative Mr Ferrao said when she saw that the Rangaon beach is full of discarded footwear, liquor bottles, syringes, and other garbage, she decided to do something about it. "My wife is a nature lover and visits the beach at least once a week. She has taught our children not to litter and the importance of keeping our environment clean," he added.
"She is oblivious to people staring or giggling at her as they pass by watching her pick slippers, whiskey bottles, plastic etc," he said.
Rajesh Gharat, a resident of Rangaon, said, "It is laudable that a foreigner is so concerned about cleaning of our beaches. I have seen her collecting garbage and taking it in her car, to be dumped in the nearby dustbin. Her husband uses the storage compartment of his two-wheeler to collect bottles dumped on the beach," added Mr Gharat.