शीर्षक की तलाश जारी है...

यह हिंदी में लिखने का पिछले कई सालों में मेरा पहला प्रयास है, अतः अगर गलतियाँ हों तो उनके लिए मैं पहले ही क्षमा मांगता हूँ.

सामान्यतः मेरे दिन काफी आराम से एक एयर-कनडीशन्ड कमरे में व्यतीत होता है और मैं जिन लोगों से बातचीत करता हूँ वो ज्यादातर या तो software engineer होते हैं, लेखक होते हैं अथवा अन्ना के आन्दोलन से जुड़े हुए आन्दोलनकारी होते हैं (और अगर आप इन प्रजातियों से परिचित होंगे, तो आप ये भी जानते होंगे कि इन तीनो में से कोई भी सामान्य इंसानों की श्रेणी में नहीं आते)|

कल का मेरा दिन थोड़ा अलग रहा|

प्रथम तो कल का दिन काफी भाग दौड़ भरा रहा. परन्तु मुख्य बात ये रही कि कल मेरा दिमाग रह रहकर एक ही घटना कि तरफ बार बार मुड़ जा रहा था.

मेरे दिमाग में एक ही वाक्य गूँज रहा था, 'हम जैसों के लिए कोई कुछ नहीं सोचता इस देश में.'

वाकिया बहुत ही सामान्य है जो शायद आपमें से भी कई लोगों के साथ घटा होगा.

मुझे कुछ प्रिंट लेने थे तो मैं तैयार होकर घर से निकला और मेरे घर के पड़ोस में एक साइबर कैफे चलाने वाले ६०-६५ वर्षीय व्यक्ति, जिनका मैं नाम तो नहीं जनता परन्तु मिलता अक्सर हूँ और अंकल कहता हूँ, की दुकान कि तरफ गया. मुझे अंदाजा था कि अब तक अंकल या तो आ चुके होंगे अथवा आ रहे होंगे. मैं अपने घर के सीढ़ियों से उतर कर जब उनकी दुकान कि तरफ मुड़ा तो देखा कि अंकल खड़े होकर एक रिक्शेवाले से झगड़ रहे हैं. यह शायद पहली बार था कि मैंने अंकल को किसी से इस प्रकार बात करते हुए देखा था.

मैं भी जाकर उन २-३ लोगों के साथ खड़ा हो गया जो कि अंकल और रिक्शेवाले के बीच का ये प्रातः कालीन प्रसारण देख रहे थे.

२-४ मिनट का वार्तालाप सुनने के बाद मुझे समझ आया की सारी बहसबाजी रिक्शेवाले द्वारा भाड़े से ५ Rs ज्यादा मांगे जाने को लेकर थी.

अंकल के पास खुले पैसे नहीं थे तो उन्होंने रिक्शेवाले को २० का नोट दिया और रिक्शेवाले से ५ रुपये वापस मांगे परन्तु रिक्शेवाले ने अपनी गरीबी और बढ़ी हुई महंगाई का हवाला देकर ५ रुपये वापस देने से मना कर दिया. अंकल का पारा चढ़ गया और वो आजकल की सामान्य मानसिकता के विपरीत ५ रुपये वापस लेने के लिए रिक्शेवाले से बहस करने लगे.

मेरी उम्मीद के विपरीत रिक्शेवाले ने ज्यादा बहस नहीं करी. जैसे ही उसे लगा की अंकल वाकई में गुस्सा हैं वो तुरंत जाकर बगल की परचून की दुकान से खुले पैसे ले आया और अपने रास्ते चलता बना, अपनी अगली सवारी खोजने. २-४ जो दर्शक थे वो भी अपने अपने काम पर वापस चले गए, बचे मैं और अंकल.

५ रुपये के उस सिक्के को, जो अंकल ने रिक्शेवाले से काफी जद्दोजहद के बाद लिया था, बड़ी शान से अपनी जेब में डाला और चेहरे पर ऐसी विजयी मुस्कान लिए हुए दुकान का शटर ऊपर उठाने लगे जैसे अभी अभी पानीपत की दूसरी लड़ाई जीत कर आ रहे हों. मुझे उम्मीद थी की वो खुद कुछ बोलेंगे परन्तु ऐसा हुआ नहीं. वो दुकान खोलते ही अपने रोज़मर्रा की झाड़ पोंछ में व्यस्त हो गए.

थोड़ी देर में प्रिंटर चालू कर के उन्होंने मुझे जो प्रिंट चाहिए थे वो निकाल के दे दिए. मैंने जब पैसे पूछे तो उन्होंने कहा, 'वही पुराना, ३ रुपये प्रति पेज.' मैं भी न जाने क्या सोच रहा था की मैं बोला, 'क्या अंकल, अब तो सब जगह २ रुपये रेट हो गया है. लक्ष्मी नगर में तो कुछ लोग ६० पैसे पेज के हिसाब से भी निकालते हैं.'

मुझे नहीं पता की मेरे शब्दों में ऐसी क्या चुभन थी, परन्तु अंकल बिलकुल से बिफ़र गए. 'तो जा कर करा लो लक्ष्मी नगर से. यहाँ क्यों आए?' मैं उनकी बात सुनकर थोड़ा विचलित हुआ, परन्तु पहला तो की मैं उनका अक्सरहां का ग्राहक था, दूसरा मुझे प्रिंट लेकर जल्दी निकलना भी था और सबसे बड़ी बात की वो उम्र में मुझसे काफी बड़े थे, इसलिए, मैंने उनसे कोई बहस करने की बजाय चुप रहना बेहतर समझा.

कुछ पलों तक ख़ामोशी रही, सिर्फ प्रिंटर की किर्र- कीं उस ख़ामोशी में सुनाई देती रही. फिर अंकल खुद ही बोले, 'जब मैंने ४ साल पहले ये दुकान चालू की थी तब इसका किराया २५०० रुपये था, आज हर वर्ष १०% के हिसाब से बढ़कर ४५०० रुपये हो गया है, अगली जुलाई में शायद ५००० रुपये हो जाये. जो रिक्शा वाला साल भर पहले १० रुपये में ख़ुशी- ख़ुशी आता था आज १५ में भी नहीं मानता, और आप कहते हो की सब २ रुपये ले रहे हैं. अरे, मेरी दुकान पे तो रेट आज भी वही हैं जो ३ साल पहले थे. मैं अपना घर कैसे चलाऊंगा? आटा, दाल, सब्जी, दूध सबके दाम इतने बढ़ चुके हैं यह तुम्हे पता ही है.' मैंने कोई जवाब नहीं दिया बस हूँ करके सर हिला दिया. अंकल ने आगे कहा, 'अमीरों को तो ज्यादा फर्क पड़ता नहीं महंगाई का और गरीबों के लिए सरकार इतनी साडी योजनायें चलती है. ये तो हम जैसे बीच में फंसे हुए लोग हैं जिनको कोई नहीं पूछता. हम जैसों के लिए कोई कुछ नहीं सोचता इस देश में.'

मैंने कुछ नहीं कहा, उनके पैसे दिए और अपने प्रिंट्स लेकर घर की तरफ चल दिया परन्तु अंकल की भावनाएं उनके अकेले की नहीं हैं. एक बहुत बड़ा तबका है भारत का, एक तबका जिसको 'मिडल क्लास' कहते हैं, कहीं ना कहीं अंकल की आवाज़ उस पूरे मिडल क्लास की आवाज़ है, कहीं ना कहीं अंकल का गुस्सा उस पूरे मिडल क्लास का गुस्सा है, कहीं ना कहीं अंकल की बेचैनी उस पूरे मिडल क्लास की बेचैनी है.

शायद यही वजह रही की जब अन्ना हज़ारे नाम के एक बूढ़े फ़कीर भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ उठा तो उसको इतना समर्थन मिला. यही गुस्सा, यही बेचैनी कहीं न कहीं अन्ना के आन्दोलन में आये हुए लोगों में भी दिखी. बहुत कम लोग अप्रैल में अन्ना को जानते थे. जो जनता जंतर मंतर पर थी वो वहाँ अन्ना के लिए या किसी पार्टी विशेष के विरोध में वहाँ नहीं थी, वो खुद के लिए वहाँ गयी थी.

हालाकि अगस्त में रामलीला मैदान में और उसके पहले तिहाड़ और छत्रसाल स्टेडियम में जो हुआ उसमें जरुर अन्ना के लिए समर्थन भी था और एक पार्टी विशेष के खिलाफ गुस्सा भी. और ये सिर्फ इसलिए नहीं हुआ की अन्ना ने जनता पर कोई जादू कर दिया, उन्होंने बस वो मुद्दा उठाया जो की मेरे और अंकल और उस रिक्शावाले, तीनो की ही ज़िन्दगी से जुड़ा हुआ है. उनका तरीका भी विरोधी पार्टियों द्वारा सामान्यतः की जाने वाली रैलीयों से भिन्न था. न कोई आगजनी, न तोड़फोड़, न भड़काऊ भाषण. जंतर मंतर या रामलीला मैदान पर एक समाधान की बात हो रही थी, न कि समस्याओं के बारे में बात करके वोट लेने की कोशिश.

हालाकि, सरकार ने जिस तरह से इस आन्दोलन को दबाने, तथा इससे जुड़े लोगों को बदनाम करने कि कोशिश करी, एक बात तो साफ़ हो चुकी है, कि सरकार कि मंशा साफ़ नहीं है. शायद वक़्त आ गया है कि फिर से ऑफिस के बाद मैं अन्ना के आन्दोलन में भागीदारी के लिए वक़्त निकालूँ. शायद वक़्त आ गया है कि मैं ऑफिस में बैठकर भी इस आन्दोलन में जैसे भी संभव हो विअसे अपना योगदान दूँ. शायद वक़्त आ गया है कि एक साल पूरा कर चुके इस आन्दोलन को सही मुकाम पर पहंचाया जाये. शायद इस बार मैं २-४ और लोगों को अपने साथ लेकर भी जाऊंगा. अब वक़्त आ गया है कि मेरे और अंकल जैसे लोग घर या दुकान या ऑफिस में बैठ कर चाय कि चुस्कियां लेते हुए अपने नेतागणों के घोटालों पर चर्चा करने कि बजाय कुछ करें. क्यूंकि मुझे अच्छी तरह ये पता है कि अगर आज अन्ना हार गए, और उनका आन्दोलन दबा दिया गया तो अगले ५० सालों तक इस देश कि युवा पीढ़ी कुछ बोलने कि हिम्मत नहीं करेगी.

Digvijay and his antics to destroy the Anti-corruption movement

Every other morning we pick up the newspaper and we have come across some statement by Ex. Madhya Pradesh C.M. and Congress leader Sri Digvijay Singh. Most of the times we discuss these comments as just blabber but if you see closely you will see what Mr. Singh is aiming for and has partly achieved success in doing.

At first he aimed guns at Baba Ramdev and with help of other party leaders destroyed Baba's movement as well as his reputation. One day he praised Baba and the next day he called him a 'Thug' (Con). Soon after police forces flushed out around 50,000 peaceful protesters from Ramlila ground document after document started to tumble out of unknown sources. Baba's Ayurveda business, through which he has treated tens of thousands was targeted. His associate Bal Krishna was targeted. Donations to Baba were targeted. In all, he was pushed around and targeted until his anti Black money movement became secondary and giving explanation to the allegation became primary.

Then it was Anna Hazare's turn. The same Anna whom Digvijay has been photographed touching feet of became corrupt and RSS aligned overnight when his anti-corruption movement caught imagination of the country. Digvijay called Anna a mask of the RSS and BJP and even questioned Anna's decision making capability by saying that he is guided by others.

What did Digvijay Singh achieve by this?

Nothing, many would say.

But by making these allegations and forcing Anna and his team to explain things he did achieve something.

Digvijay made sure that all those people who had risen above party and other lines to take part in the anti-corruption movement once again got cut off with the movement. Digvijay made sure that even if the movement is against Congress for the time being (as it holds the power at the center) no RSS or BJP aligned person takes part in it. Not even to get his head counted in the crowd.

Isn't that a loss for the movement? It is a big loss I would say.

In the same way when after April's fast of Anna some property tax evasion charges were leveled against the Bhushan's by Digvijay Singh this time there have been charges against Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. Like the last time when the tax notice miraculously appeared in Digvijay's hand this time also the whole file of travel expenses of Kiran Bedi somehow found it's way to office of a specific anti-movement newspaper. Co-incidence did anyone say?

Digvijay has nothing to lose. He knows that the way things are going the future of Congress is already dark due to the not-so-good deeds of it's leaders. And he has been successful to some extent I would say.

However this is not the first time when some Government is going after people who have shown the resolve to stand against it. The same happened to all the people involved in Tehelka sting operation. All of them were hunted down and their professional lives destroyed.

Now Digvijay has turned his mouth-canon towards Sri Sri Ravishankar. A mistake I would say because Anna and his team are not down and out yet. May be it is the single biggest mistake that Digvijay has made in this game of politics that he is playing. It might prove very tough for him to deal with two equally influential and morally strong anti-corruption groups at the same time.

Mr. Singh, may be this time you bit more than you can swallow! The people of India may not prove to be as foolish as you make them out to be. Come elections and you and your party will get a fitting reply.

31 excuses for not passing Janlokpal bill!

These are few of the excuses that I have compiled over the past few days given by various groups and individuals against Jan Lokpal bill.

Excuse no. 1 : Team Anna did not win elections... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 2 : I hate Pakistan but I am not bothered about a corrupt Central govt... So no anti -corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 3 : Kiran Bedi did not fly business class ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 4 : Anna Hazare has a lot of support from the masses ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 5 : Everybody is corrupt... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 6 : One bill won’t eliminate corruption from the world... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 7 : You speaking politely... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 8 : People can have different opinions ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 9 : Dr. Swamy is a liar .. So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 10 : Bhushan wants a plebiscite in Kashmir .. So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 11 : God exists ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 12: You are neither with BJP nor with Congress ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 13: Manmohan Singh does not have a magic wand... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 14: India will be divided if an anti-corruption Bill is passed. ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no. 15: Congress has expelled people in the past ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no.16: RSS is anti-Muslim ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no.17: I am smarter than you... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no.18: India is not Europe... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 19: Rihana tik toks rafel... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 20: Rahul Gandhi has no experience ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 21: In Gujrat Modi got Muslims killed .. So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 22: Kiran bedi thinks we all are stupid ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 23: You know everything about Congress... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 24: You know everything about everything... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 25: BJP & RSS will become above the law ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 26: 2G Scam and CWG Scam does not matter ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 27: Everybody should respect the PM ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 28: Raja and Kalmadi were sent to jail by the HC ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 29: I am terrified of the RSS because of the stories I have been told ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 30: I don't care about the details nor do I understand Indian Law ... So no anti corruption Bill!

Excuse no 31: BJP is also corrupt.. So no anti corruption Bill!

So what's your excuse?

Five days under the auspices of Anna: Day IV

I was woken up at 6am by Manoj as he had to leave for his home. I got up, washed my face and went inside the ward. Two of the patients were asleep while Rampal Singh ji was awake and needed to be escorted to the bathroom. I asked Manoj to wait till I am back after helping Rampal ji and he sat down arranging the various blood reports, X-Ray and ECG reports while I escorted Rampal ji to the bathroom.

As expected in a government hospital the bathroom was in a really patheic condition. The Indian style pot was overflowing with shit and the taps were all broken and the bathroom floor was really slippery. Thankfully though one of the toilets was cleaner than the other overflowing one and Rampal ji used it.

I helped him back to the bed and Manoj left detailing me about the various medicines and reports. Soon O.S. Chauhan ji also woke up and I helped him also to the toilet. While coming back he asked me if there was anything I could do about the pathetic level of cleanliness in the hospital.

Well, now that he had asked I was bound to do something.

People say that there is a certain psychological condition called the activist syndrome in which people who are normally just average start behaving in a much better than average manner after becoming part of something noble. I experience the same thing that day. I went searching for the janitor throughout the floor and finally found the janitor room with three or four of them wearing dark blue uniforms chatting with each other and smoking bidi (hardly 50 yards from patient ward and well inside the premises).

I ignored the smoke and informed them about the condition of the toilet and asked them when they would clean it up. 'It was supposed to be done by people in night shift, we have just came on duty.' One of them replied.

'Does that mean that the toilet would remain the same way till the night duty guy comes and cleans it up?' I asked a bit unnerved by their reply.

'Go and complain the sister about us if you want to.' One of them said nonchalantly.

I came out of the room and soon found my way to the sister and complained her about it. I had hardly finished when three of the janitors came into the room trying to overhear the conversation. When it occurred to them that I was indeed talking about them they intervened and said, 'Clean it yourself if you are so desperate to get it clean.'

'Oh really? Tell me where's the bucket and broom, I'll do it myself.' I said with the activist syndrome having taken me over completely.

The sister and the janitors looked at me as if I were a ghost. I on the other hand knew for sure that this is what Anna would have done had he been at my place. The janitors quickly left saying that they would go and clean up the bathroom and I walked back to the ward with a satisfied smile on my face. Indeed I had been bitten by the activist bug, there was no turning back now.

I went back to the ward and informed O.S. Chauhan ji that the bathroom will be cleaned up soon and he gave a satisfied and victorious smile, may be his first in the last eight hours since I had been with him. Then the doctor came on a visit and asked me to get ECG of all the three patients done and also ordered them to be shifted to some other ward after the ECG's were done.

One by one the ECG of all the three was done and by the time we finished with that it was 7:30 in the morning and when we asked a sister for newspaper as we wanted to read about Anna's fast we were told that the hospital did not provide newspapers though I could get one from the vendor outside the main gate.

I went to the main gate and got the Hindi 'Dainik Jagran' as well as English 'Times of India' newspapers. In TOI O.S. Chauhan's picture was there on one of the inner pages taken at the time when he was being carried to the ambulance. In both the newspapers there were pages full of news about the movement and all of us were missing being at Jantar Mantar. Rather it was the anshankari's who were missing it more than I was. I was there by choice but they were there due to the doctor's decision to send them to the hospital.

At about 10:00 am they were shifted to a third floor ward by the ward boys with a bit of help from me. All three of them were better than they had been in the night and they repeatedly asked the doctor if they could be discharged so that they could go back to Jantar Mantar. The doctor replied, 'I won't stop you from going but i won't sign your discharge slip either.'

Apurva, the volunteer who was supposed to carry on the good work after I leave arrived at about 11am when I was on phone with my father trying to explain to him that I was not at Jantar Mantar as he expected but was at home studying for my upcoming GRE. I was in no mood of listening to a lecture from him or mom as to why I should keep away from the movement and how it would dent my chances of getting a US visa. I had moved above all that in the last two days. I left for home soon after explaining Apurva about the medicines and the test reports of the three patients and also requested the ward boys and sisters to keep an eye on them.

I reached home at 12:30 and slept as soon as I got in the bed. When I woke up it was about 4:00 in the evening, much after the two hours I had planned while going to sleep and took a bath, got ready and rushed to Jantar Mantar as soon as I could.

I reached Jantar Mantar crossing by 5:30 but even before I could cross the barricades I came across two of our volunteers who were going to Chawri Bazar as the market association there had promised us 2000 pamphlets. It was 7:30 by the time we returned with the pamphlets and the 'Shor Karo' march in which we were supposed to bring a plate and spoon from our homes and beat them to make noise had left for India gate from where they were to come back to Jantar Mantar. The logic behind 'Shor Karo' was, 'In order to make the deaf hear you ought to make lots of noise' (Something said by Bhagat Singh when he threw a bomb in the assembly).

I had also got a plate and a spoon in my bag with me but I had got late so I decided to stay at Jantar Mantar and look after the things rather than rushing to India Gate only to rush back to Jantar mantar again. The Assamese friend of mine who was here the day before also joined me in the evening after finishing with her office.

At about 8:30pm I received a SMS from a friend of mine in Bhopal saying that the government had accepted all our demands. I was surprised as no such announcement had been made from the stage. I rushed to Prahlad and gave the news to him. He replied, 'Yes, they have agreed but the kind of people they are it is very hard to believe on their words.'

Half an hour later it was announced from the stage, 'The government has agreed to our demands but Anna wants to think over it and only after that he will declare his decision. As of now the fast is not over.'

The news of the government agreeing to our demands filled all of us with new energy and zeal and the next hour was all about dancing and singing. Have you ever seen youngsters singing 'Raghu pati raghav raja ram?' or 'Ye desh hai veer jawanon ka?' Well, I hadn't but that day I saw as well did the same. In a country where if you hoist the national flag apart from 26th January, 15th August or cricket match people give you strange looks that was indeed a big change. Soon it was announced that Anna and others would break their fast at 10:00am next day and Anna agreed to that only after the government agreed to issue a gazette notifying the formation of a drafting committee for the Jan lokpal bill.

I left Jantar Mantar at 10:30 in night and met many fellow volunteers at Rajiv Chowk metro startion. Most of them I didn't know nor had seen at Jantar Mantar but we recognised each other by the yellow batch we were wearing proudly and everyone of us was congratulating everyone else. After leaving my friend at her hostel I reached home at about 12:00 in night and went to bed with the determination to reach Jantar Mantar as soon as possible in the morning.

Five days under the auspices of Anna: Day III

Day-3 of Anna's fast and after last evenings successful candle light march I woke up feeling great. Doing good things does that to you. Unlike my regular routine of grabbing the newspaper the first thing I did this morning was to toast four slices of bread for my self. Well, being without solid food for two days at a go does make you realize the importance of food.

After paying my broadband bill I rushed to Jantar-Mantar and like the previous two days distributed pamphlets in the metro. Quite a few people seemed interested in what was going on. Some asked me questions regarding Jan Lokpal and I tried my best to clear their doubts and reservations about Janlokpal and the ongoing event. Many of them pledged their support to the cause.

I finally reached Jantar Mantar at half past eleven and got busy with managing the crowd. The crowd that day was much more than the previous two days and the volunteers like me were having a tough time managing it but we were enjoying it at the same time. Then I met a group of engineering students from Greater Noida who had come all the way to support the cause and given that they were my university juniors I joined them and we did a flag march in the inner circle of Cannaut Place. We shouted slogans, waved the Indian flag and distributed pamphlets. The public response was great and raised our morale.

We came back to Jantar Mantar by 4pm by which the preparations for the candle march had started. I joined others in the preparations and by five thirty after another stimulating speech by Anna we left for India Gate. The mere sight of thousands walking quietly with candles in hand would have shook the political leaders sitting in north and south block across the road.

It wasn't Tahrir Square as some people put it, it was more awe inspiring than Tahrir Square. In Egypt there were gun shots and killings but here, in India we followed the words of Mahatma Gandhi and like a true Gandhian did not resort to violence or damage to public property in any way. Silence is more powerful than shouts. I had heard that, now I believe that.

We came back to Jantar Mantar by 7:30 and the march consisted of more than ten thousand people. None of them paid or brought there in trucks, they all were present there because they wanted to help in the cause.

After coming back a went back to my crowd management duty. An assamese friend of mine also came to Jantar Mantar after her office. It was her first experience of such an event and to be true it was a bit unpleasant for her as she hates crowds. Despite that she agreed to the fact that this was indeed an unexpected mass of humans. She had come expecting a few hundred people but what she saw was thousands and thousands with candles in their hands and marching silently.

At around nine in night I went to the help desk as I was thirsty and needed a glass of water. There I met Prahlad, a volunteer who is known by everyone associated with IAC to be proactive and passionate about the cause. Prahlad bhai asked me if I would volunteer to stay in the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital with the three patients who had been sent there from among those who were fasting due to dehydration. I was a bit reluctant in the start and tried my best to find others for the job but everyone said, "I can do it tomorrow but not tonight." Thus in the end I took the responsibility. I walked my friend to the nearby Patel Chowk metro station and then went to the hospital with another volunteer called Manoj.

There we met Yogesh, Ramashray and Sneha who had been performing the duty of looking after the patients till now. They stayed on for a while, introduced us to the three elderly people who were admitted and briefed us about the medicines and blood reports, etc. A few media persons also came and informed us that a few other anshankari's were unwell and they might be brought to RML. I and Ramashray went and talked to the lady on reception about availability of beds and were told, "There are no more beds, the best we can do is to put two of you patients on one bed."

It angered all of us but we decided not to take the matter any further till any more patients arrive. Thankfully no more patients arrived that night. Yogesh, Ramashray and Sneha left at about 11 in night for Jantar Mantar where they were supposed to spend the night.

I and Manoj sat by the three patients, namely O.S. Chauhan, Rampal Singh and Mahant Gopaldas. Chauhan saab was a 74 year old ex-government servant who had come from Bhopal to take part in the agitation, Rampal Singh was from Etawah in U.P. and Gopaldas ji was Mahant of a temple somewhere near Bhopal. He had undertaken such fasts earlier too but this time had decided to do it without water and during regular checkup the doctors found that he had fever and brought him to the hospital.

At about three in night I started to feel a bit sleepy and decided to take rest for two hours as at six n the morning Manoj had to leave for his home. I can out of the patient room and spread the bed sheet Manoj had got with him on the floor outside the ward. There were few other sitting there and I also sat down with them. One of them noticed the yellow colored batch with a message to our respected Prime Minister written on it and asked if I was part of Anna's movement. I replied, 'Yes, I am.'

What followed was an hour long discussion on whether or not the corruption in India can be rooted out, whether Anna's fast was morally correct, whether the Government will relent or not. After an hour when Manoj came out for a stroll he saw me in middle of a heated discussion and said, "I thought you were tired and wanted to sleep." I didn't reply, just grinned and continued with the discussion. Manoj also joined the discussion and after a while I went to sleep at about 4 am.

Five days under the auspices of Anna: Day II

It was 6th of April and I got up at about 9am in the morning with my legs still aching due to the long evening at Jantar Mantar on the previous day. The first thing I did after waking was to grab the newspaper as I still wasn't sure whether or not enough coverage will be given to Anna by the media.

To my surprise Anna was on the first page. The snowball had started to roll and I knew that now it would not take long before the movement spreads to the general public, the middle class who generally like to sit home and observe things. I got up and after getting ready reached Jantar Mantar by 11:30am. On the way I distributed pamphlets in metro like the day before and people at least knew about the movement thanks to the media. I was still being discouraged but at least people knew what I was a part of. A positive change none-the-less.

At Jantar Mantar I spent a few hours distributing pamphlets and explaining people who asked about the bill about the features of the bill. At the same time I could see many people carrying out different kind of antics trying to grab media attention. Well, some things would never change, would they?

Anyways, I tried my best to keep out of the camera view as my parents were not aware that I was participating in this event. They are really skeptical about such things, specially because my dad also has a political background.

When I got a bit tired I sat down with a group of people almost my age and was thus introduced to Manish, Ankit, Vikas and some others. They were students from different colleges, some of journalism, some of law, some of CA but one thing that bound them was they were at Jantar Mnatar for Anna. We talked about the current political scenario, how Anna would effect it and many other things.

Also listened to Dr. Vishwas while he was anchoring on stage and also invited him to our group and got photographed with him. Around that time O.P. Chautala arrived. For the uninformed, Mr. Chautala is a politician from Haryana and leader of Indian National Lok Dal. Currently he is the leader of opposition in Haryana Assembly and has several cases including that of disproportionate assets pending against him and his family. When people saw Mr. Chautala in his trademark green pagdi going towards the stage with the aim of meeting Anna and using the stage for his political agenda everybody decided that he should not be allowed on stage.

What followed was power of the masses. The politicians who have for years pushed around the public like cattle got a good taste of their own medicine. Chautala was not allowed on the stage by the public, slogans were raised against him and eventually he had to leave seething with anger due to the humiliation he had to suffer at the hands of the very people whom his security used to treat like garbage.

After Chautala left Anna, having spent almost 30 hrs without food by that time addressed us and said, "We are Gandhian's and there is no place for such actions in our behavior. We should not behave so aggressively. Let them come but they will not be allowed on stage."

All of started to prepare for the candle light march from India Gate to Jantar Mantar after this. Despite having been fasting for a day and a half most of the volunteers were on their tows. Everyone was running around doing some work or the other. No body needed to tell the volunteers to do the work, everyone would find a work for himself. It was like the 'Grand Indian Wedding' where everyone pitched in without being asked to.

Around 4:45pm we started to assemble people for going to India Gate from Jantar Mantar. Around then Uma Bharti ji arrived. Uma Bharti was associated with BJP for a long time and she is also one of the prime faces of BJP during the Babri Masjid demolition. Despite Anna having asked us to exercise restraint the crowd surrounded Uma Bharti and raised slogans against her.

She was not pushed around like Chautala ji was and even allowed to go in front of the stage for Anna's darshan but a crowd accompanied her raising slogans like 'Netagiri nahi chalegi', 'Sangh ke logon wapas jao', 'Saare neta chor hain' and after everything simply 'Chor Chor' when she started to leave. She wasn't allowed on stage like Chautala and with the media flocking her like a pack of hungry hyenas on a corpse with the public raising slogans against her she went towards the area where OB vans were parked. That was the only time in the five day fast by Anna when police had to intervene and stop the crowd from following her. Uma ji, the politician that she is, stood giving comments to media on the other side of the road while people riased slogans against her from across the police barricade.

After this Anna again spoke and explained to us the Gandhian philosophy, why politicians should be allowed to visit, but not get on stage and why we, the youngsters should exercise restraint while opposing someone.

The youth soon left for Indian Gate in the form of a march and we distributed pamphlets in the way about Anna and the Jan lokpal. Gaurav Bakshi, one of Arvind Kejriwal's associate was the walking with us and to my surprise he was bare foot, when I asked the reason he replied, "I like it this way." The public raised slogans like 'Anna aap sangharsh karo hum aapke saath hain', 'Vande Matram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

At India Gate about 2500-3000 people were assembled that evening. First of all there was an excellent nukkad-natak called Bhrashtachar (Corruption) by Asmita theater group and I think it was the first time in Indian history that there was a nukkad-natak at India Gate. At each dialog the public clapped and at each punch there were howls followed by silence so that the voice of only the theater artists is audible. It's not every day that you find an Indian audience doing that but that day was not a normal day by any measure. After this candles were distributed and lighted.

I had never been part of a candle march before this. I was one of those who believed in shoot then talk rather than soothe and talk. This way of protest was new to me and a tough one too. With the wax falling on my hands, jeans and shoes it took me a while to become accustomed to walking with a candle in hand and I tell you, it is not as easy as it seems. The candle went out multiple number of times, add to that the fact that we were in a crowd and had to keep from walking very close to each other for the fear of someone's clothes catching fire.

All that apart one thing struck me the most. The very people who while going to India Gate from Jantar Mantar were raising slogans on top of their voices were walking in silence with their heads bent down on the way back. Only the sound of them walking and vehicles engines stopped at crossings were audible, nothing else. It is not every day in India that you see 3000 people walking silently with candles in their hand and wax pouring on their hands.

The crowd walked till the stage where Anna was and raised it's candles as a mark of solidarity. The next hour was spent in singing patriotic songs along with the singers and dancing to 'Ye desh hai veer jawanon ka'. One thing that amazed one and all was the presence of large number of youth in the march.

In our country it's a general perception that the youth are uninterested in politics and are not as patriotic as they should be. Well, anyone who was there at Jantar Mantar that evening would have been forced to believe otherwise. Even Manish Sisodiya, one of the prime forces behind Arvind Kejriwal said, "The presence of youth here shows that the time for a change in the mindset has come."

The very same evening I received another compliment for the youth by an elderly gentleman. After finishing with the patriotic songs I went for buying a bottle of water (was still fasting) from the MCD shop. An elderly man standing there said, "It's nice to see young people like you here."

"Well, you people inspire us Uncle," I replied.

"Don't get inspired by us. Make your own way. Had we been so good the country would not have got here," he said philosophically.

I didn't reply but the sense of duty that I had been feeling since the previous day just got a bit heavier. In fact it is time to make our own path, it is time for Jan Lokpal.

I returned home at 10:30pm that evening and distributed pamphlets in the metro. In fact today people were asking for the pamphlets and seeing me with awe as well as bit of respect. Hope the revolution continues. On my part I'm sure I'll be here the next morning too, for Anna and for Jan Lokpal.

(Photo courtesy: Ankit Kakkar)

Five days under the auspices of Anna: Day I

On the evening of 4th April I was contemplating whether or not I should go to Jantar Mantar the next day. All my immediate friends had declined as they thought it was a waste of time and that had forced me to question my decision to go. Then at about 7:30 pm I received a call from Pranjal, an acquaintance whom I had't met for past six-seven years asking if I would go with him. I said yes without hesitation and today I feel proud of my decision.

On the morning of 5th April I met Pranjal at Rajiv Chowk metro station and though as per th schedule I was late by half an hour but knowing that this is India I was comfortable. We took an auto to Jantar Mantar and got down at the red light. There we met two more youngsters of our age group and joined them. They were Ankit Kakkad and Abhishek Aluria. We reached Jantar Mantar road and found pandals and stage but not many people were there, not the thousands that I expected at least. There was an information desk on which there were pamphlets about Anna and Jan lokpal bill.

There I also saw Swati Maliwal and Gaurav Bakshi, two people whom I had seen in an online video telling people about Jan lokpal bill and Indian Against Corruption, an NGO which they were a part of. I went over to Swati and told her that I would be available in case she needs a volunteer for anything and also met Gaurav and told him that the online video of him interacting with students was one of the prime reasons I was at Jantar Mantar.

Another half an hour passed and I had nothing to do apart from roaming around. Anna was on the way from India Gate after visiting Raj ghat and the crowd had still not swelled beyond manageable proportions though surprisingly there were no police men in great numbers as there are in many such events. A few but helpful ones were there though.

After I while when no body gave me any work I decided to find work for myself and started to distribute the pamphlets about Anna Hazare and Jan lokpal to the public. Interestingly most of the people there didn't know what Jan lokpal was about and asked me. Even I didn't know the answer! So I sat down and read the pamphlet myself first. Only after I understood what the bill was about did I start to distribute it again, this time also explaining it to the people who asked me about it.

Anna reached Jantar Mantar at about 11:30 am in an open army jeep with Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Swami Agnivesh, a group of bikers, a few cyclists and a large crowd walking behind him. There might have been somewhere around a thousand people in that crowd which came along with Anna and Anna was escorted to the stage directly. At this time I was standing with a sardar who I had just become friends with. His name was Tejindar and he belonged to BJP and is part of it's youth wing but was there in personal capacity.

On the stage Kiran ma'am announced that the fast has started and that Anna will not move from Jantar Mantar until the government accepts to the demand of accepting the proposal of Jan lokpal bill. After that Arvind Kejriwal, Swami Agnivesh and many other people gave speeches. Famous Hindi poet, Dr. Kumar Vishwas anchored the event and kept the crowd entertained with his one-liners.

Anna also gave a speech and talked about the current system, the need of change and how the youth need to come forward. He also talked about his past and gave us a brief introduction of his work in Maharashtra and the army. Anna also talked about how at one point of his life he was contemplating suicide and then he pledged his life to serve the people.

His speech literally shook me. A 73 year man, going on fast-unto-death for his country and here I was, a twenty seven year young man, distributing pamphlets. I can do better than this, I said to my self. I thought over the options I had.

First and most visible option was to sit on fast-unto-death with Anna. I weighted the pro's and con's and in the end decided against it as knowing myself I knew I won't be able to sit idle for long which was something all the anshankari's were required to do.

The second option was to keep distributing pamphlets like I was but by doing that I was not doing justice with my own abilities, so I decided to look for further options.

Then I heard someone talking about a kramik anshan. Kramik means cyclic. So it was like you observe a two day fast, then after five days you again observe a two day fast if Anna is still on fast. So I got myself registered for kramik and at the same time continued with pamphlet distribution.

By five thirty in the evening the crowd started to swell and from six o' clock the sarv-dharm prarthna sabha started. Nitin Dawar, a member of 'The art of living' sang his now famous Jan Lokpal song which became a national anthem for the people demanding Jan Lokpal. Many other songs were sung, prayers were made to the almighty and then there were patriotic songs. That evening on Jantar Mantar I witnessed one of the rare occasions when people from different strata of the society, irrespective of caste, creed and regional identity danced to 'Rang de basatni chola' and sang 'Raghupati raghav raja ram' along with the singer. When a singer sang 'Ae mere watan ke logon' the crowd was mostly silent but their eyes were filled with water.

Apart from a cricket match and 15th Aug or 26 Jan I had never seen such zeal. It struck a chord with me and I along with the friends I had made in the morning, Ankit and Abhishek, danced till 8pm. At 8pm Sri Sri Ravishankar ji addressed the crowd on web conferencing from Germany and pledged full support to Anna.

All of us left Jantar Mantar at about 9:30pm with the conviction of returning the next day. All of us picked some pamphlets and decided to give them to people on road and in metro. After bidding adieu to my friends at Rajiv Chowk I got on a metro to Anand Vihar which is about a mile or so from my home in Vaishali. In the metro I gave pamphlets to a few people but most of them looked at it with dis-interest and then folded it and kept it in their pocket.

A few even told me that what I was doing was useless and India cannot be rid of corruption. All I replied was, 'Let's try at least.' Their words only strengthened my conviction and support for Anna's cause. Now it was no longer only Anna's cause, it was my cause too. I reached home with severe ache in the leg but with a happy heart. That was how my first day under the auspices of Anna came to an end.

(Photo courtesy: Ankit Kakkar)

Of corruption and a lone wager against it!

For the last two years or so (more precisely since the general public started to use RTI effectively) scam after scam has been tumbling out of the government's closet and despite that no concrete action has been taken by the government to bring this raging monster under control.

The government has been sitting on the Lokpal bill for last forty-two years and that also a weak one. They are not willing to implement even a toothless Lokpal let alone a proper law that aims at prosecuting the corrupt.

This is where Anna Hazare came in. Anna is a seventy-eight year social activist from Maharashtra who was instrumental in getting the RTI act passed by the government with it's teeth intact. Anna has decided to sit on a hunger strike unto death for getting the Jan Lokpal bill passed like he did with RTI.

RTI has helped us, the normal citizen know what the government is doing but it doesn't give us the power to get them prosecuted. The time has come to get our right, to stop this monster of corruption that has been keeping us from achieving success as a country.

When people like Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Archbishop of Delhi, Swami Agnivesh, Mehmood Madni, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Mufti Shamoom Kashmi, etc. join forces you got to take notice.

Yesterday morning when I left my house on way to Jantar Mantar I was just another normal Indian but the experience that I got there has changed me. Anna is not just another political or social activist. He's a living Mahatma Gandhi and in a country where the father of the nation has become synonymous to 'majboori' thanks to the famous lines 'Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi' it is necessary that people like Anna achieve something following the Gandhian way of non-violent action.

I have pledged two days of fast in support of Anna and till he's at Jantar Mantar I'll be there each and every day giving him my support and doing whatever is withing my humble capacity. Hope that the other youngsters of this country also rise and put their weight behind Anna before it's too late.

Why India needs another Mahatma, Loknayak or Lokmanya.

Off late everyone is talking about how corrupted India has become and that there is dire need of change in the situation. A few days ago while discussing the situation with a friend all of a sudden a question popped up in my head, 'In present day India is there any leader who the masses and the classes can equally relate and look up to?'

I still haven't been able to find a satisfactory enough answer to this question but then I did have a few conflicting thoughts in my mind thus I decided to write them down. Going by India's history during the Independence movement and the Sampoorn Kranti (Total Revolution, a highly under-rated event in India's history but whose implications are visible all around us till today) one can say that for any movement to be successful there has to be a prominent leader, a face whom the common people can rally behind.

The Jasmine revolution in Egypt was an exception but at the same time in Egypt there is still a leadership crisis. I don't think we Indian's will let such a situation occur here. We are a much stable state than Egypt or 90% (and I think I'm being conservative) of the world's countries.

This does not mean that a change is not needed! If someone steals even a blade of grass from our courtyard then we Indians are ready to fight tooth and nail, so we do need to do something if someone made away with Rs 1.76 lakh crore, another one with Rs 8000 crore. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. An estimated $1.4 Trillion of Indian money is stashed away in Swiss banks. This is enough money to take India into the league of developed nations over the next decade. Isn't just that reason enough to ask for a change?

The big question before me and many other people like me is whom to align with? Till now many individuals and organisations had been fighting against corruption but none of them had a mass following. They were small groups of few people, not people with mass following which is important in a democratic setup to make yourself audible to the government.

Indian public needs a person who they can rally behind, who they have faith in, who they can look up to. And I'm sorry to say that there is no single individual in India to whom I can point out and say, 'Yes, he can be the next Gandhi, JP or Tilak.' Most (if not all) politicians today are directly or indirectly corrupt. They either take money directly or through their aides and stash it in their Swiss bank accounts.

The social workers are there but their domain of work has become so specialized and centered in a specific area that they are hardly recognized outside their town or state. The power that Gandhi and JP wielded in oratory terms and mass appeal is something that most of these social workers lack. The media is also more interested in finding the steps of heaven or some blood colored river leading to hell than telling us what actually is going on in our country.

A few people here and a few activists there do make a difference but is that enough? Doesn't the common man deserve to be a part of this anti-corruption fight? I think he does and he wants to but he does not know how to.

For past few weeks I have been hearing about Yog guru, Swami Ramdev giving speeches on anti- corruption and nationalism and I was a bit surprised. To be frank I've never been a fan of Baba Ramdev, more so after I came across a young gentleman in a train who was taking his mother ailing from Cancer to Baba's ashram in Haridwar rather than some doctor. That day onwards I had decided not to be a part of any activity even remotely related to him and that included not practicing the yoga he taught and not buying the juices and oils he sells through his outlets all over the country. No hard feeling but this how I am!

For the first few days I took baba's comments to be just another gimmick but when people from eminent citizens from different strata of life started to rally behind him I did sit up and take a note of it. Even for a secular country like India it is not usual for a Swami to be invited to give a speech at a convention of Muslims in Deoband.

Thereafter Congress party's attacks on Baba raised further suspicion that may be Baba was on the right track. It is not everyday that the Congress or any other party for that matter pays heed to what general people are saying. Yes, I included Baba Ramdev in general people, I still do. He's doing what everyone in India thinks of doing but cannot do as they have families to feed.

Thereafter I came to know about the launch of 'India Against Corruption' campaign and I attended their rally at Ram Leela grounds in Delhi on 30th January. If I was asked to put the experience in one word I'd say, 'Electrifying'. I wasn't there for long, just about an hour or so as I had other things to attend to but that one hour was one of the most intriguing ones in my life. It made me think about a lot of things going around me and to some extent it was also the reason I started with this blog.

With people like Sri Sri Ravishankar, Swami Agnivesh, Arch Bishop of Delhi Vincent Concessao, Mahmood A Madani, Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, J M Lyngdoh, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, Syed Rizwi, Mufti Shamoom Qasmi, Mallika Sarabhai, Arun Bhatia and Sunita Godara rallying behind Baba Ramdev it would be a surprise as well as disturbing if this movement fails.

A bigger challenge before Baba and his colleagues (not followers, but colleagues) would be to help the general public develop an anti-corruption mindset because bribes are accepted because we are willing to bribe. Until and unless this mindset changes this and many more movements would be useless.

Gandhi Ji and JP are two examples of revolutionists who did achieve their short term goal but failed in their long term goals primarily because the people who came into power after the movement were as corrupt (if not more) than the outgoing establishment. This is something that Baba, Anna Hazare and others need to keep in mind. Throwing out one corrupt government and replacing it with another equally corrupt one would not do the job. JP has already shown us that it doesn't work.

If these people are indeed serious about rooting out corruption then they should also provide an alternative to the current available choices. A formidable choice, not just a 'this would do' one. I hope that this movement would achieve what it is aiming for and make India a better place. People like me are waiting to become a part of the change.

Need of the hour – An average Indian’s view about Kashmir issue

Even if after 63 years of Independence of India and almost the same amount of time being spent by Kashmiris’ with India if people still ask the question if J& K is a part of India then it disturbs me.

Kashmir for years has been an issue over which the rest of India has only one opinion; it is a part of India, though certain groups in Kashmir valley hold a different view. But the question is, why? Why do these people have a different view?

Truly speaking, I have never been to the valley despite going up to Jammu thrice in the past five years but I got a chance to study with a few Kashmiri migrants and spend some time with a handful of them. In that time in Jammu and the time I spent with those acquaintances of mine I found out that the average Kashmiri is just that, average, all s/he wants is food to eat, a house to live and a bit of peace.

It is the peace factor that seems to be missing in their life. The previous generation of Kashmir had a sentiment associated with POK and even Pakistan as their relatives and many of people whom they had known during their childhood and youth were on the other side of the line of control. They always had that, ‘My brother lives there’ feeling in their heart, then there was the generation which can most aptly be called ‘The children of midnight’, people born around the period of Independence of India. They did not have that strong bonding with the other side as the generation before them but still it was there as they grew up listening to the stories about how unified Kashmir was like. The new generation, which in the metro’s called itself as the X-generation became the V-generation in Kashmir, where V without any guesses stands for violence, the generation that grew up seeing continuous violence since 1989 till now.

That violence brought the Army to the state and even after more than twenty years majority of Kashmir looks like a big cantonment area. It is this cantonment area look that the people of Kashmir want to get rid of. You would have heard very few young educated Kashmiri’s saying that they want to get merged with Pakistan; they know that they have no future with an almost failed state, a state where the ex-presidents and prime-ministers live in exile or are assassinated in full public view. They demand for withdrawal of troops and the ones who are a bit more frustrated with the Indian set up demand for Azad Kashmir but they forget to notice the state in which the narrow strip of land known as Azad Kashmir right now is, failing to provide even the most basic necessities to its people. More over the people of POK are being tossed around like ping-pong balls with some part of POK being given to China as a gift by Pakistan government and some parts harboring militant camps. Just imagine the life of people living in these areas.

People like Ahmed Shah Geelani and Arundhati Roy (I still fail to understand why people give her so much importance, most of what she talks and writes is just crap and attention seeking material) are not concerned with the future of Kashmir and its people, Mr. Geelani has a political agenda and Ms. Rai just has a knack of sticking her leg into any damn problem which attracts media attention, till some time ago it was the Maoists and now it’s Kashmir. If Ms. Rai was so keen on solving the Maoists problem she should have gone forward and accepted Maoists request of becoming the mediator, talked them out of violence, killing innocent people and destroying government property.

The people of J& K need to realize that India and Indians consider them a part of their own, even giving them special status and quotas, something which a country like Pakistan, where people who shifted there 60 years back are still called ‘Muhajirs’ (The ones who shifted) cannot give them. Pakistan has never supported Kashmir’s independence, it has always been in favor of Kashmir becoming a part of Pakistan and even if somehow Kashmir manages to become a free state (though there’s a very rare chance of that ever happening) then also Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to destabilize it and merge it into itself.

The need of the hour is for the people of Kashmir to recognize the fact that without their co-operation the government cannot put an end to insurgency and militancy and if that doesn’t end then the Army will also not be removed. The government should also think of ways to minimize impact of military on normal lives.

The time is ripe for Indian government, the people of J&K and the Pakistan government to sit down and sort the matter out. There will be people who will object to Pak being a part of these discussions but they fail to understand that the Kashmir problem would not have existed in the first place had Pak not been laying its claim on J&K. In all, it’s time to stop talking and start doing things.