Rossy and I went to India Gate to light a candle.
We had been receiving sms's all day from various people about the show of solidarity across the country in support of Anna Hazare's Fast unto Death fight against corruption. At first we didn't think much of it. As a matter of fact, till the day before, we hadn't thought of it at all. It had seemed like one of those many news bits that come and go. But yesterday, as the day progressed, sms's and Facebook invitations got us curious about whats going on. We switched on the News channels and were 'switched on'!
I am in Delhi right now and immediately had the urge to go pay respect to the man who is selflessly doing this for a cause that might or might not see any light at the end of the tunnel. Yet this 73 year old has placed his belief before all optimism, pessimism and realism to fight a cause. Fight the cause he may, but what Anna Hazare has done also is that he has woken up a sleeping nation. And what a wake up call that was!!!
We reached India Gate at 6:00pm. The atmosphere was calm, regular, pleasant. Lots of cops, few TV vans, few people hanging around.
On our way as we had crossed Janpath, we had seen almost everybody with a yellow badge pinned to their clothes. I couldn't get hold of one myself but I figured it was in support of Anna. I was impressed to note that people had at least spared 2 seconds of their busy life to have thought about this and at least worn a badge to show their support. I was of course in for the surprise of my life to note that it wasn't just 2 seconds that a "few" people had spared to think about this. What I was going to witness was a revolution.
It began with a few more and a few more walking in with banners. Mostly young college kids and a lady who looked like a Social activist. The first batch of 30-40 came in and formed a circle, familiarizing all of us with the slogans for the day.
"Anna tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare saath hain"
"Fight corruption, start a revolution"
"Ek do teen chaar, band karo yeh bhrashtachaar'
"Gali gali main shor hai, saare neta chor hain"
So on and so forth. I laughed at it first. The only one that made sense to me was the 1st one addressed to Anna. The rest seemed like those college naara's with no meaning. In fact I wondered if all these kids shouting out the slogans really understood what it meant to end corruption. Would we all realize that its ok to be a little in-convenienced but not to bribe the cops when caught for drunken driving? Would we really stop taking short cuts in life just to do the "right thing"? I almost mocked at this rally.
But I hung around because in my mind I was there to show solidarity to a man who was noble enough to risk his health for a selfless cause. How could we not pay our respects to him, at the least.
Soon, more people poured in and before I knew it, there were thousands of us - kids, youngsters, people and more people. People who were charged up. People who were mere spectators. People who wanted to make a difference. People who were indifferent. People who shouted slogans and clapped. People who silently waved the Indian flag. The serene scene at India Gate changed.
A fantastic street play, slogans after slogans, The national anthem, Jai Hind and Bharat Mata ki Jai reverberated all around and most people looked like they meant it, they believed in it. At that moment, thousands and thousands seemed united - maybe for a cause or maybe just to acknowledge that there indeed is a problem in our system.
We started from India Gate towards Janpath and more people joined in the way. Traffic stopped, people stopped, to let us pass as we shouted out in unity and for the first time in my life I witnessed what could clearly have been called a revolution. It suddenly became really clear what the 1940's must have been like. How Gandhiji must have mobilized people. It became apparent that we had in fact descended from those very people who had participated in the Dandi March, who had fasted for days and months and even suffered in jails for a common cause. What happened last night was minute in comparison but it assured me that if ever there should be a need for us Indians to unite, we will, just like our previous generation had just about 70 years ago.
It took us about 45 mins to reach Jantar Mantar where Anna Hazare had stationed himself. The thousands of people immediately multiplied into tens of thousands of people. Shamiana, patriotic songs, people dancing, singing, chanting slogans - I have no words to describe. Euphoria. Trance. Madness. Unity. No one cared about the pungent urine stink, no one cared about the claustrophobic crowds, no one cared about the dust, dirt or any such thing. In a way its crazy - the crowd frenzy, the mob mentality but in a way its overwhelming, awe-inspiring.
Of course while we stood there we heard that the government had agreed to Anna's demands. Of course while we stood there a lot of us wondered what would come out of this. I am sure a lot of us speculated about what next and whether this would indeed make a difference. All of us had the same question in our minds and continue to whether each one of us will take up this cause of corruption and make changes to our own ways of life. I don't know what the eventual outcome will be. I don't know if India will change and become a cleaner country, I don't know if the cops, the politicians and us citizens will not want to "make" money more than we deserve but I do know that we as a country still has the appetite to make magic happen if need be and if a magician does call opon us to volunteer.
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