Saturday, April 9, 2011

INDIA - The Land of Miracles

From Poonam Pandey to World Cup to ANNA HAZARE to the Indian YOUTH....A night with ANNA




India is a country of miracles. I am not talking about our democracy that miraculously lasted for over 60yrs. What I am talking about is real miracles, miracles like saints floating in air (surprisingly always in front of a black background) or doing a Jesus by walking on water. It is a country where children are born not by sex but by pouring water (milk even better) over the Shivalinga. It is not the performance of the 11 in the field that won India the World Cup but the miracles, also called ‘desi totkas’, performed by the billion Indians (as if our own miracle boy Rajni’s gracious presence was not enough). One of our office colleague claims to have taken 4 Sri Lankan wickets just by going to toilet! He had to endure the pain of drinking excess water throughout the Sri Lankan innings. Another one sat for two hours on the uncomfortable edge of his comfortable sofa even as his legs became uncomfortably numb. That is just two out of the billion Indians doing their own little miracles for the cup… Sri Lanka had no chance.


Days later a 72 year old man went on hunger strike – a miracle cure for corruption, his name is Anna Hazare. That old man has become more popular than Poonam Pandey! Indian men preferring an old man over a young girl wanting to do a Full Monty is in itself a miracle. Now that Poonam’s fame is fading, here is an idea for her to reclaim her fame…Bare in-front of the ministers if they pass the strong anti-corruption Jan Lokpal bill. She can call the cricketers and ministers together in Paris if she wants, after all the cricketers and ministers have become good friends since the IPL started. Stripping for a cause is also a non-violent protest that will work faster than hunger strike.
Now coming back to the 72 year old Gandhian, this is not the first time he is going on hunger strike to end corruption. Isn’t it a miracle that both he and corruption is still alive in India? At first I thought that fasting would be too much for me and hence I made up excuses to justify my stand. Most of the individuals in India are corrupt, from ‘babus’ to business man, from the driver tampering with meter to us downloading pirated songs. A bill would not stop corruption. To stop corruption we have to educate the mass and generate a general awareness. If we can do that, it will be the miracle India needs, not a hunger strike. But then when I saw my favourites stars Amir and Big B supporting the old man I changed my mind. I finally decided to support Anna. So I gathered few friends and our YOUNG GROUP decided to go to Delhi and join the protest. We decided to fast between lunch and dinner (drinking & smoking is definitely not considered eating unless you are a Bengali). From office we went straight to our house to bring our cameras. We needed to take some snaps as a proof that we were part of the protest that was making history. And we definitely needed to upload them in facebook to impress our friends with a caption “I am Anna Hazare and am part of a great miracle”.
Taking some snaps with Anna and catching free glimpse of some Hollywood stars was not our only motivation. It was our chance to meet the bold and beautiful Delhi girls! It was that bit of miracle that our lonely hearts were desperately seeking. After taking our cameras, with a heart full of new hopes, we took out our car and rushed towards Delhi – DILLI CHALO. But our journey took a mid way halt as a stupid policeman stopped us for over-speeding. But being in Delhi for five years meant that it was an easy problem for us to handle. We slid a 500 rupee note in his pocket and took off to fight corruption – ‘Corrupt political netas…here comes the power of YOUTH!’
We reached Jantar Mantar at 8pm. After parking our car we went in making our way through the reporters and the crowds. The entire protest area divided into 4 zones. The centre was taken by Anna Hazare and his men, then surrounding them was the normal citizens, behind them were the enthusiastic reporters competing with each other to take the best snap, and finally there were the hawkers who were having the best business in years. People were singing patriotic songs, clapping and dancing is support of Anna. They were using plates as drums and were carrying every thing to attract the attention of the media. They carried candles, to roses, to placards to even children. One of the placards advertised in bold letters “THE ART OF LIVING SUPPORTS INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION”. So after taking some photographs for facebook and dancing with the patriotic numbers from “hum honge kaamiyaab” to “suno gaur se duniya walo” to the theme song “Lokpal…lokpal…pass karo jan Lokpal”, we looked around for TV reporters. Soon I found a beautiful young girl from some media channel. Wow! I can be on TV, and she can be that miracle I was hoping for. I went towards her hoping to catch her attention so that she can interview me. I waited for the miracle and then the miracle happened!
In the middle of the crowd a woman collapsed. Within an instant a group of people put her in a “khatia” and with amazing efficiency took her to the medical counter through the huge crowd. I looked around and saw a different Delhi. Thousands or people of all class, creed, caste and religion were together for a cause. For once IPL took a back seat. The young girls were surrounded by so many unknown guys and they had nothing to fear. Who said Delhi was unsafe for girls? A country shattered by scams once again became an optimist. When no body had hope, the old man performed the miracle. His voice spread across the vast country like a deadly virus. People had enough of the Kalmadis and Rajas. From five year old kids to 80 year old, everybody had a hope of a better future. From the beggars to the media, from Bollywood to Baba Ramdev, a billion citizens all across India wants to demolish corruption. Then comes the announcement that the government has agreed to Anna’s terms and the crowd erupted with joy. I felt like I was teleported back in time to the midnight of 14th August 1947. I felt like I was free. The final decision will be taken in Saturday morning but people have already started celebrating. Jan Lokpal bill might not help majority of Indians, but the hope that the old man has raised in the hearts of a billion definitely will. Once again can an Indian feel proud and think of India as a place “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high” – JAI HIND.

31 comments:

  1. Nice post. Lets hope the bill gets the nod. That will the biggest miracle ever.

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  2. Nice post! Good one...:) You are MUCH MUCH better now :)

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  3. wow.written omgly i loved this way.ha ha.JAN LOKPAL bill pass ho gaya. JAI HIND.. hope next time miracle wud happen in ur lyf 4 which u r hoping he he:)

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  4. @R...Govn has given the Gazetted notification...deal is on...probably the biggest miracle since independence... :-)

    @Jhonny walker... thanks again dear...

    @some unspoken words...thanks :-)...the post is facts + fiction...I hav a miracle :-P

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  5. Areh, the view at Jantar Mantar was mind blowing... and i was so surprised to see that how a 72 year old man can do miracles and can lead us to the corruption free India!
    We successfully took our first step towards CORRUPTION free India..All thanks to ANNA HAZARE and thousands of supporters across the nation...

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  6. @ Sanjana...Yes it was...were u there? that man is strong...when i saw him yesterday night he was smiling and clapping with the songs...could not believe that he has not eaten for ~4 days...it is not yet a corruption free India...but we have got the momentum...it is upto us now...

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  7. Yea I kno its yet nt corruption free India..still miles to go..!! but I really salute the spirit of Anna and other million Indians who came forward to support this bill :)

    And yea I was there, it was like a jalsa..the songs..the media..common man..children.. it was a vry unique feeling :)

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  8. I know the feeling coz i was there too....very unique indeed!

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  9. I contradict on one point with you... For many years I have been constantly reading and being taught that if we have to get rid of corruption we need to mobilize the mass. As the corruption will only stop if the common men will do any good to wipe it out. But, common men never gives bribe or looks for a juggad for sheer love and passion for corruption. It's his compromise with the system. We must understand the point that the only way to get rid of corruption is to change our political leaders, which will subsequently bring a change in mindset of bureaucrats. And, then the change will take its effect on the common men.

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  10. @ Rachit...thanks for the comments...i appriciate your thought...
    but what do you mean by common men? common men promotes piracy...that is corruption...when common men get caught by police for rash driving they pay him bribe to get away...that is corruption...one is not born politician...they come from us...u want to change the politicians, and replace them with whom? what is the guarantee that they won't be corrupt?

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  11. @ Vasumathi Sridharan...
    thanks a lot :-)

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  12. From a different perspective. Drinking, smoking, corruption, and the youth. Did you really pay 500/- or just for the masala post? :P

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  13. @ Lobo...Thanks a lot...no i didn't pay 500/-...i think that is a bit too much... a little bargain and they agree on 200/- anyway ;-)

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  14. gr8 observation n nice representation

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  15. I'm closely following Anna's fast (not literally) from day 1 and it makes me curious that how can a 72 year old man can fast for 90 hours.
    I already felt hungry while writing this.

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  16. Proud of you that you went to Jantar Mantar. Baba Ramdev has his own political agenda and should not use the stage for personal reasons. Best part is that the movement is peaceful and young people are joining in.
    India sure is a land of miracles.

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  17. @Prateek...I agree with you...and he looked so fit and fresh with that ever persistent smile...and after 1/2 a days fasting we were soooo hungryyyy.

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  18. @Alka Gurha...Thanks a lot...He made it a bit political...should not have...there were also many ppl carrying placards against congress...which i did not like...it was a protest against corruption and not against any political party...but the participation of youth was heartening...thanks again

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  19. You weave your ideas splendidly. Great post!

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  20. @krishnareddy...
    Thanks....will chk u r blog...

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  21. Probably too late to comment on this post or may be not as again from tomorrow the fast is gonna start. A nice post and different perspective first of all...Now about Anna I feel he's just great, Can you and I ever imagine standing up for something for the country and fasting for 3-4 days. May be Lokpal won't make a big difference but at-least it's making people think that corruption can be eliminated which is a good start....Rest is upto us!

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  22. it's never late...:)
    he is great...and we are too afraid, to come out of our comfort zone...
    A Lokpal won't change a thing...but govn will definitely get the message that Indian citizens are not dead yet...

    Cheers!
    SUB

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  23. OMG!!! i LOVE YOUR BLOG!! and precisely coz u not only put forth ur views, but enlighten us as well. U knw Sub, this post of urs had such nice sarcasm, was filled with ur own instance of being corrupt ( when u are sliding a 500 rupee crisp note into a policeman's pocket), the irony being that you are going to support the 'anti- corruption' movement...and then the humor of how Delhi girls could be safe with unknown guys being around them.. and I LOVE when u blatantly say ' to upload pix on FB' to show it to the world that you were a part of it...but amidst all this, I'm really thankful to u and ur posts for making me aware. All this while I have been thinking of whether or not going to Ram lila Maidan and support ANNA or not..not because his cause is not right, but because I wasn't aware...and today, thanks to you, I'll write not only a blog post on this, but also decide where my STAND is..:) 
    Just a suggestion: you write superbly well but try being concise:)

    ANd temme what's with Bengali ppl thinking that smoking and drinking cn be considered as 'eating' as well;)

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  24. Thanks a lot Aakriti for your wonderful comment...i will be waiting for your post...

    Oh! I am trying hard to be concise...you will know it if you see my first few posts which were really lengthy...i hope someday i will achieve that perfection...thanks for the suggestion...

    All I can say is that, we love to eat....so since we love smoking and drinking as well, we call them eating too :)..

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  25. yeah I hope to write the post soon.just that m too unwell right now:(...you know what I have this brainy Bengali prof in my collg...and he has sooo much to share that he would completely delineate from what he would be speaking...and I guess u Bengalis na...are one "dimagi" ppl!!:) 

    PS: Have u ever wtched "What's with Indian Men?" on Fox History and Traveller;)

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  26. get well soon...
    dimagi, r we? see what we have done to West Bengal.. :O

    P.S, no i haven't...why?

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  27. well its a nice show Sub...Indrani Dasgupta and Sugandha are hosting this one..and they have been travelling to 10 cities in India to find out 'what's with Indian Men of that region;)..btw...I didnt know you were married!! Coz either ur pic is an old one..or you look too young;) :D..haha!!
    tkcr.

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  28. Ok...
    it's 3 yrs old...but i was married even then...married young :) 

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