The emotions are simmering. Facebook does not seem to be talking as much about Sachin leaving ODI as it is talking about what is happening in Delhi. Probably for the third time this year, the nation is up against the worng doings and the youth are taking the lead. Videos from India Gate and Raisina Hills show fearless young people willing to suffer the blows of lathis, water cannons and teargas shells all for one thing - to get the people on the top to do what is right. Are you experiencing a similar emotional situation - maybe different in magnitude once in a while? Are you feeling just so bad about the state of affairs that you want to break free of your own inhibitions and do something about it? If yes, then probably this article will help you ask some more questions to yourself and find a way ahead.
Let's start with who's nation this is. Is it the property of the Government of India and all of us are tenants in it? Is it that the Government has the right and the responsibility to be the whole sole authority in-charge of the nation and all the rest have no option but to petition or beg before the Government to bring about a change? An amazing this about the several protests seen this year, including the ones for Jan Lokpal Bill was that the individuals took to street to make the Government realise what it should be doing. I would like to think of myself belonging as much to this country as it belongs to me. A direct connection without the aid of the so called Government. The problems of this nation affect me because this nation is mine. Is it the case that the only way I have is to request the Government to act in a way that addresses my feelings and concern for this nation? I believe that we as individuals, especially those who care for what goes on around them, do have a way of making things better by direct action. While we do fight to prevent corruption at the highest levels in the Government, there is that possibility of us saying no to bribe and put up a stiff fight in our personal lives to get things done without bribing anyone. This kind of behaviour is not very limited to the individual alone.
Try something next time you see people ready to break the traffic signal. When they are all set to take off few tens of seconds before the light turns green, the honking will rise and the engines will ignite. In that moment, just resolve not to start the engine until the signal turns green. Almost immediately you will feel a sense of compulsion to start and join the crowd. At this moment just hold your breath. Do not look at people around you. Do not try to convince anyone. just be convinced by yourself that the right thing to do is to wait for that light to turn green. Probably people will honk badly at you. Some may even utter some foul words. Someone would crank up the engine and jump the signal followed by a couple of others. People will stare at you for blocking their way. But if you carefully think, you will find a lot of good men and women around too, who seeing you do the right think, will continue to wait till the signal turns green instead of making your way around.
This is a different way of protest. This is as loud as the cry from your throat at the protest sites. Instead of lecturing the world, you are choosing not to let go of what you think is right. For a moment, yoou may think that there is little point in facing all the heat when anyways people do find their way around you and break the signal. But think carefully. Without uttering a word, you have been heard. If not by everyone, at least by some. By standing for what you believe in your own personal life, you not just bring about the much needed transformation and relief for yourself, but you also facilitate the movement of the society as a whole in the right direction one step at a time.
One time emotional outburst is a different thing. Expression of anger is also a different thing. If you really get affected time and again by the situation around you then you have untapped potential energy inside you. You could either use it to tell people what they should do or you could use it to do what should be done.
Conventional thinking has made us too dependent on the managements, the administration and the Government. We tend to have more faith in the power of these institutions to change things than they actually have - with all the interests with which they march up to these positions of power. This nation does not belong to the Government - it belongs to its citizens. The day the person realise that when he say that the nation belongs to him - even the problems of the nation belong to him things start changing. Then you stop thinking what is it that people should do. You start asking, what is it that I can do. When individuals do what is there in their won capacity, however small it may seem, there is a real change.
Our times are exceptionally important because we are living in a period in history when the power of common people working in their own ways, from their own places - contributing towards a bigger cause - a cause which they believe in has brought about massive transformation. They have started to associate this with the word Open - Open Movements! When some common people here and there thought that they had had enough of the monopoly and the exploitation of the giants in software business - the cathedral view of a computer software broke down and millions of contributors across the world created the free and open source software movement. This is just one example. There are millions. Once you pull up your socks and start working - in your own way - to solve the problems that concern you - in some time you will realise how numerous people all around you are trying to do their bits - that you are not alone. More importantly, you will realise that under the pomp and show of the so called civil structure, the enormous contribution of these individuals makes living so much more better for all of us.
Learn if you can, to work for what you believe in not only when the adrenaline is high, but also when you have a difficult day. Learn if you can, to have faith in your own relationship with this soil, and realise that working for the mother - the motherland - is a personal affair. Learn if you can, that beyond that smallest of steps, when taken with persistence, without much thought given to the end result at every step, are all that is needed to make the best out of the journey of life.
When you bring in a change in the personal self - when you choose to act - the biggest impact is that on yourself. From a demanding member of the society whose intellect was being used to raise the voice, you become a contributing member of society - whose inner unrest is shaped into constructive good work.
Kindly note that I have very high regards for the individuals who break free from the inhibitions and choose to hear the voice of their heart to come out openly and protest! When I see the numerous children who were gathered at the India Gate, I have deep respect for their emotions. Protest and raising the voice are definitely the first steps. However, shouting at the deaf has limited impact. When I see the potential that these very young fellow citizens have, all I can wish for is that all of this energy be channelized into a long term - sustained effort - far beyond the streets - with a deep intent followed by active action to shape a better India.
Vande Mataram!