The Anna Hazare Blog was originally written in 2011.. when a whole lot of activists, yogic tantriks, disgruntled civic servants and politicians and a whole lot of people got on to support a seemingly senile yet principled person. However now, two years later, Arvind Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party ( The Common mans party or Mango (English for Aam ) Peoples Party :-) has just created history. Before the elections, Anna Hazare tried as much as possible to distance himself from Arvind Kejriwal claiming all sorts of malpractices committed by Kejriwal. Ex Delhi Policewoman, distanced herself too. The Yogi of course ran away much earlier, disguised as a woman, thankfully never to be let onto the stage of the AAP.
In a complete reversal of the sentiments written in the earlier Blog, today Anna Hazare seems senile. Pathetically trying to run and clumsily clamber onto a missed bus. Tripping and falling in many peoples reverence for this Gandhian who seemed to want change, but not the power. Now that the Bus has moved out of the park, he seems to clamour for credit.
He tried to puncture the bus halfway through the critical phase of polling, and yet the AAM Bus moved on.
As I read through my earlier Blog (quoted below), I too realize how wrong I was then.
One character in that Blog turned out to be the real hero and the real Hero in that blog turned out to be the joker. Will he be the villain of this story now?
I admit that I was wrong then and I have become a fan of Arvind Kejriwal over the last few months.
Will he be able to control the masses and the asses who want to board his bus?
A debate is on right now on NDTV with Nidhi Razdan trying to eke out controversy over Prashant Bhushans rider to the BJP.. while a ticker tape news bulletin reads that Anna Hazare has gone on his nth Fast unto death … Coinciding with the AAP Bus departure, seems he has decided to board at any cost!!
The memory of a million Gandhi topis(hats) inscribed "I am Anna" have not so mysteriously become "I am Aam Aadmi" cementing a certain but positive shift in the movement.
Am I too an Aam Aadmi?
The 2011 Blog :
I often wonder how many of us had heard of Anna Hazare over 6 months ago? ( I can of course practically see those intellects stand up, saying that they knew of this Gandhian from Ralegan Siddhi - in typical 'Silencer' ( the fourth and only idiot in the now famous Three Idiots) fashion!! Well I hadn't heard of him. The first mental visual when I heard the name, was that of a blonde spouse of a Cricketing hero. This is typical of the current mental state I am in. I've been trying to practice thinking 'out of the box', that the thought process starts with the most bizarre, furthest out of the box thoughts. Others laugh. I've got used to me. Thus, once convinced that Anna Hazare was indeed a Gandhian, following principles of Non-violence, making a serious effort to fight corruption, my mindset about the person changed. only to be rudely shaken back, into a box, when lo-and-behold, there stood alongside him, the usual suspects - politicos in orange garbs, tantrics wielding political microphonic megaphones, and of course with some brilliant actors too. ( I refer not to the presence of Aamir Khan, whom I genuinely admire, but to the theatrical skills of former employees of TATA Steel and the Indian Police Force, respectively (without respect!) The antics and drama, brought to the forefront of a genuine fight against corruption, have made this make Anna or Team Anna look terribly monologued! They look like the "Lagaan" cricket team at practice. All running like headless chicken! Making mockery of a genuine Indian concern! A Billion people, plagued by corruption, yet living with it in as though in a marriage (An Indian Marriage at that!! No morally acceptable separation)! I read this in a friends comment on the same subject. You realise that a vast majority of us who have just heard of Anna Hazare, feel some sort of empathy. Millions of us. Yet we seem impotent in being able to effectively do something about it. The standard rhetoric is - If you want to do something about It then cast your vote! Or Join Politics. UGH. Well, until we start Overseas NRI voting for the first option. The second option - not an easy one for many of us who don't play games! The first one is a one time option for a full term and thus makes no sense! It would take a tremendous effort to make any change during the tenure. And that's where the problem with our democracy lies. The incumbent politician rakes in the most he can till the next election. The Hazar Hazares will scream and shout, go on hunger strikes. Can they make a difference? Will they be able to reduce corruption? Or are they going to replace an entrenched corrupt system with another one? The more one sees the hanger ons and the dramatists alongside, the less the Hazar Hazares will be seen behind the real Hazare.
Nairobi, Enjoying the wonderful climate ...from Indoors!! October, 17th, Wednesday, 2011
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