Thursday, August 18, 2011

Why I don't believe in Anna's path, yet I admire him and will support him


I don't care whether Anna's path is right or wrong. I don't care if Jan Lokpal bill can end corruption. What matters to me is that, for the first time, the new gen India is witnessing a mass level upheaval. From the tech guys to the rikshawalas to the students to the housewives, people are joining hands. They now have a cause to fight for, a sense of purpose, a sense of unity. This is something that this country desperately needed.

When people like Nandan Nilekani says (rightly, I feel) that Jan Lokpal cannot in itself end corruption, what they don't see is this fact , that Anna just pulled off an unprecedented feat of bringing the Indians together. Something, that none of these visionaries of modern India could ever achieve. Except for cricket, this country never stood together for something. But now, it is happening.

This struggle has not yet reached its tipping point. But surely, it will. If you are familiar with the concept of radio activity, you will know. A substance becomes radio active only when it reaches a critical mass. Bit by bit, it keeps on adding, until one day, the transformation happens. Something that was dead till the previous moment, is now a deadly force. This, if you observe, is how every revolutions have happened. From the good old French revolution to the latest Facebook revolution in Egypt, this is how change happens.

And this precisely is what is happening now. The very common Indian has been suffering all these years silently witnessing the large scale loot by these elected leaders. They had no choice.

When the blasts in Mumbai happened, the Indians wanted to respond. Someone here, some one there- we prayed, we did silent marches. When we saw people in Egypt protesting and uprooting an age old ruler, we felt ashamed for our own inability to do something similar here.

We wanted to do something. 'Something', you see, every one wanted to do 'something'. And a lot of people indeed did. They started their own small NGOs, small scale movements, group protests. But still the vast majority of us kept waiting. Not everyone of us are leaders. We are more of followers- we are willing to join in, support a cause. Except that we didn't have something to show our support. This situation was the first stage.

Now, things are gaining momentum. One here, one there, it is all adding up.

See, all those nay sayers, this is something you guys are part of. It just doesn't matter whether Anna succeeds or not. What matters is that an unnamed movement is being created. The wagon is getting momentum. Things have become easier for upcoming leaders.

This is what you have to understand. Anna is a turning point, a major milestone , in the history of our second fight for freedom. The courage and determination of this veteran soldier has given us a sense of unity- a sense of purpose.

That in itself is the success. And by that standard, Anna has already won. He has done what he was supposed to do- to bring together the people of India.
While I may not believe in your path sir, I admire you for that. And I will support your cause till the end.


5 comments:

  1. Read your post and I admire your position. The main point I cannot understand is the deafening silence of we malayalees or malloos. All india is responding positively and the so called fully literate we are mum...I have read your malayalam post also.Excellent work.Congrats.

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  2. Of course this is an excellent work. although I have gone through a number of articles in this regard, majority of those were ridiculing this great uprising against corruption. Keep doing good works.

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  3. Why do you test the patience of readers with this "Word verfication"?

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  4. Thank you Mr. Shanavas and Mr. Shukoor for the comments. Your encouragement is much appreciated.
    @ Shukoor, 'word verification' is automatically created by Blogger to avoid spam, I guess. I am helpless. :)

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  5. A good post regards this issue. I liked your point of view.
    (To avoid word verification:- Go settings-comments-select "No" for show word verification for comments)
    Happy to see you...I am also a Navodayan..:)

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