On Wednesday evening, I went to a march at the Gateway of India. I was drawn by the urge to pay my respects but also a morbid sense of curiosity to see the sight of attack. RJP and I walked past traffic jams caused by the descent of thousands into one cramped little street. We walked right in and tried to push past people to get to the Gateway as fast as we could but to no avail. Thousands upon thousands surrounded us in all directions. Some held candles and some placards and banners to express their emotions. Noone was silent. The chanting and shouting was omnipresent. Vande Mataram, Hindustan Zindabad and other patriotic chants rang out from all corners. Women stood up on a platform using a megaphone to get us to sing ‘Hum Honge Kamiyaab’.
The anti-Pakistan chants described the focal point of the anger but we saw it change in front of us. Within minutes of our arrival the chants against Pakistan morphed into anger against our own politicians and the feeling of ‘enough is enough’. Rousing cries of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ led to thousands cheering and pumping their fists in the air. We all stopped in our tracks at one point and spontaneously broke out into the National Anthem. I understood for once what an electric atmosphere means. I got some semblance of understanding how Parisians in 1789 and Russians in 1917 felt in those crowds. And that is what united us. The sheer frustration of being helpless in our own land with incompetent leadership. It was a frustration shared by the young and old, men and women, rich and poor, North Bombay and South Bombay residents and people of all religions. Our anger was not just at a need for security but for our politicians to actually serve the people honestly.
We were experiencing the beginning of a revolution yet it will simply fall on the wayside. Two hundred thousand people showed up and expressed solidarity. Yet these movements aren’t being replicated on a similar scale anywhere else in India. Why don’t we feel the same anger everywhere in the country? Why don’t we demonstrate in the same way? Heck, this won’t even happen in Bombay again. The revolutionary zeal that was in full flow will dissipate in front of our eyes. All because we lack a leader to bring us together, to focus our energies and to lead us to the reform we so desperately seek. Why will no one rise up and claim that mantle? Impassioned pleas for a responsible leader seem bound to fail. So we must step up to the plate ourselves. We need to reform our attitudes and ourselves first. Question the guard at the mall that doesn’t check your bags properly. Pay the traffic cops the full price of the ticket instead of getting off with a smaller bribe. Find out how our taxes are being spent on a local level, look up promises that politicians make and question publicly why they haven’t followed through with them. Make sure you vote. How many thousands gave up their lives so that we could be independent and vote for our leadership? Don't defile their memory. We can’t bring such pressure to bore effectively on the PM but let us at least try to corner our MLAs. All of us need to lead this revolution and do our little bit. It is time to look in the mirror, hold ourselves accountable and take action. It is no use saying enough is enough anymore.
The anti-Pakistan chants described the focal point of the anger but we saw it change in front of us. Within minutes of our arrival the chants against Pakistan morphed into anger against our own politicians and the feeling of ‘enough is enough’. Rousing cries of ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ led to thousands cheering and pumping their fists in the air. We all stopped in our tracks at one point and spontaneously broke out into the National Anthem. I understood for once what an electric atmosphere means. I got some semblance of understanding how Parisians in 1789 and Russians in 1917 felt in those crowds. And that is what united us. The sheer frustration of being helpless in our own land with incompetent leadership. It was a frustration shared by the young and old, men and women, rich and poor, North Bombay and South Bombay residents and people of all religions. Our anger was not just at a need for security but for our politicians to actually serve the people honestly.
We were experiencing the beginning of a revolution yet it will simply fall on the wayside. Two hundred thousand people showed up and expressed solidarity. Yet these movements aren’t being replicated on a similar scale anywhere else in India. Why don’t we feel the same anger everywhere in the country? Why don’t we demonstrate in the same way? Heck, this won’t even happen in Bombay again. The revolutionary zeal that was in full flow will dissipate in front of our eyes. All because we lack a leader to bring us together, to focus our energies and to lead us to the reform we so desperately seek. Why will no one rise up and claim that mantle? Impassioned pleas for a responsible leader seem bound to fail. So we must step up to the plate ourselves. We need to reform our attitudes and ourselves first. Question the guard at the mall that doesn’t check your bags properly. Pay the traffic cops the full price of the ticket instead of getting off with a smaller bribe. Find out how our taxes are being spent on a local level, look up promises that politicians make and question publicly why they haven’t followed through with them. Make sure you vote. How many thousands gave up their lives so that we could be independent and vote for our leadership? Don't defile their memory. We can’t bring such pressure to bore effectively on the PM but let us at least try to corner our MLAs. All of us need to lead this revolution and do our little bit. It is time to look in the mirror, hold ourselves accountable and take action. It is no use saying enough is enough anymore.
Posts
How many of us know the procedure for filing a complaint to an MLA and the due process involved in addressing that complaint? How many will take out time and sit in a government office all day to even bother filing complaints or requesting for necessary information? My questions are not meant to simply point fingers at apathetic citizens.
ReplyDeleteClearly the problem is a mix of decades of a lack of governance at the lowest wrung of our political system and the resulting ignorance of the common citizen as to what his duties and rights may be.
With out sweeping reforms starting at the very bottom of our political set up and an effort at the civil education of our population, no call for a revolution will find resonance.
It is easy to blame the systems we inherit. What is hard is to question ourselves, and our own resolve to address the problems we so actively criticize in society. If one truly wishes to bring about change, then one must become the embodiment of that change themselves, as cliched a that may sound.
ReplyDeleteSpend every minute, of every day asking yourself, am I solving the problems or merely worrying about them
Well written. Subscribed!
Chandra,
ReplyDeleteMy post was actually along the lines of what you say.
Lucifer