The ANNA Revolution- as eyed by a 19 year old…

This is not one of those “argumentative” newsletters that start from Anna ji and end to the now entitled “corrupt” Government. I am sure you would have had enough of these “repeatedly” in your life for the past few months. This one’s just an anecdote of how I and You witnessed the highly chronicle Anna era which had just begun.

My enlightening March

“Are you in that candle march thing?” a friend had asked me. A perplexed impression followed from my side. After some casual explorations, eventually in another hour I was part of a mobile lot of people walking on d city streets aimlessly with candles in our hands! Shouting those heavy slogans we were there to support some Anna Hazare who was fighting for some Lokpal Bill. And I was there to experience the “candle-march” thing which has been recently highlighted in many B-movies. The illuminated walk in the late evening hours was great fun. Back home my chrome window had a new page featuring “Anna Hazare and the Lokpal”. Too late to admit, but yes those patriotic words from that deeply bass speakers have had little effect on me and those slogans were still ringing in my head. But of course a callow mind was hard to be convinced on “My nation” stuff. It was a far cry!

Days followed and there was more and more of this Anna and graft stories. It was all around. Since that historic march day, there has been a thought in my mind which I was consistently shunning off unless one day I decided to face it. A highly unexpected thought from a sophomore “What I have to do with this ongoing corruption story? Was it something that concerns me or just another gimmick of Indian politics?” The simple answer to these uselessly complexed questions was a corollary of my thoughts inflicted by daily rolling news updates and the discussions that followed. “YES! It obviously does Dumbo!” I screamed to myself. And then I came clear on the complete fiasco.

INDIA- a land where I will be living the rest of my life. A place that is supposed to serve as a platform for every single thing I have planned to achieve and live in my life ahead. And will a “corrupt India” be able to provide me the basis for the dreams I wake up with in my eyes every day! Certainly not! So this crusade concerned me. It related to My Life too!

That sense of belongingness has ushered. I knew where to start my bit. I joined the pervasive online and offline campaigns. Facebook, tweeting and blogging became a major means of awareness and united strangers across the country with one collective identity as “INDIANS”! The nation witnessed the cohesive spirit of Youngistan which for a long time had been left out in the cold. “Awakened” citizens across the 28 states joined up for a single cause. It was like “India Reunited” or more aptly “Youth united”!

Photo courtesy : Finsoft

The Revolution of change was widespread in every sphere n in every being.

My mother and her friends who have always been engrossed in ladylike gossips and those “K-serials” have suddenly turned their discussions to country’s future and T.V. channels to news network. My 13 year old sis who just knew a few selected names of Gandhi’s in politics but all in Disney world has started filling her knowledge books with queries on Anna Hazare and Lokpal from me and other family members. And not to forget my Dad, whom I had hardly seen fighting for himself today was ready to join the country’s war against corruption. That zeal with which he participated in the city candle march and the way with which he encouraged me for the same was really out of my depth! And an interesting part for that time period, family discussions over meals shifted their focus from “Me and My College” to the growing intellectual India. Phew! I really thank Anna for providing me an easy escape from that family grilling! The college students bunked their classed and parked themselves at the protest areas, organized meetings, plays, discussions for the awareness purpose. Even the Indian Media realized how important it was to cover basic issues.

The solidarity among the members of Anna’s army strengthened day by day and the campaign pushed the government into a tight corner. “Anna tum sangharsh karo, hum tumhare sath hai” became India’s more verbose equivalent of “Yes! We can”. Eventually when it came to the crunch, the Parliament issued a resolution on the three key demands of Jan Lokpal Bill and that too in an adopted sense of house without any vote. The moment itself was acknowledged as a bookmark in the history of Indian Republic.

People’s parliament is supreme and it has been evidently established. The world’s largest democracy had once again dared to achieve the toughest through the simplest “non-violent” methodology!

Photo Courtesy : Trendpool

Who knew the grandpa next door will soon facelift Indian democracy by way of the revolutionary change both inside and outside the Parliament!

This is how I, a 19 year old have scrutinized the complete Anna Tale where each single moment has been made historical. But yes this was just a moral victory, the war is still on!