Disclaimer: This is a true story and not a figment of my overactive imagination. All the views expressed in the following article are property of Divya Krishna. Any reproduction in part or full will be titled as an offence and the guilty will serve my hatred for lifetime :P
India is a country with a population more than a billion. We, a few lakhs, who live in a city, usually, do not understand the state of affairs in the hinterland. They are very innocent and ignorant. They don’t know what is happening in the outside world. Their life is limited to their village. And a few “Leaders” (Political Goondas) take them for a ride and lead a luxurious life themselves while these poor villagers fight for food and water every day. A right direction is all these villagers need. No, I am not copying these thoughts from some famous article. I realized this last December.
December 2010 – I had just finished a big assignment at work and was tired as hell. Hence, I applied for a 20 day leave. This leave was supposed to be a stress buster and hence, I did not make any elaborate travel plans. Plus, my Dad and sister did not have holidays. So I was left on my own. One of my cousin sisters was about to get married. So I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to spend some quiet time with her in our home town – Khammam, a small town, which is 4 hours away from Hyderabad by road. When I told her, she was ecstatic. She planned my entire trip with small tours.
First day was spent at home. Second day, we went to Warangal and visited many interesting places there. Our next trip was to Nagarjun Sagar Dam. This trip was going to be exciting as we were supposed to get on to a cruise near the dam. I was really looking forward to the same.
The night before, when we were packing our clothes, my uncle told us that there was some Raasta roko aandolan the next day. (Telangana Agitation had started in Andhra Pradesh and every 2nd day there was some strike, some fight and some agitation. Frankly, by then even the localites were tired of all these gimmicks of politicians to gain popularity.) Hence, he suggested that we postpone our programme. But, we were too excited and decided that we will go indeed. So, giving up on us, my uncle advised that we leave early in the morning before the agitation began. So that we reach the dam by 9 AM. We planned accordingly and slept off early.
We woke up at 3:00 AM and got ready quickly. The car was ready by 4:00 AM. We promptly left to make our 4 hrs of journey. Till 6:30 both of us just dozed off. Then some loud voices woke me up. I saw that our car had stopped and there was a big traffic jam. I asked the driver what happened. He told us, that the traffic jam was because of a group which was crying out slogans and had stopped the vehicles. So, our raasta was rokoed! I muttered curses under my breath and got down to inspect the situation.
I saw 6-7 men with yellow flags, shouting some slogans in Telugu. You should have seen them! They looked like pakka goondas. Their faces, bellies, expressions! Along with them 2 little boys were holding flags and running around. A few villagers were begging them to stop this tamasha so that they can carry on with their regular work. But, no.. They yelled at an old woman and pushed her aside.
Some of the cars found an alternate road and they started moving. Our driver also, came to me and asked me to sit in the car so that we can escape before they notice. So, we went. There was an auto in front of us and before that was a car. Just when the car was coming out of this galli, these goondas noticed us and stood in front of the car abusing us and challenging us to run over him and leave. I was so angry at this foolishness that I had half a mind to run over him. Anyway, in the mean time, another goon cut a tree and placed it before the car so that we can’t move. Disgusting! I immediately got down and asked the 1st goon if he has lost his mind! He said, “Madam, you don’t know what we poor people have to go through every day. You wear costly clothes and come in car and are shouting at us.” I lost it! Poor people! You are wearing a bloody big gold chain in your neck. Yes, I said that. He said, “I may not be poor, but I live with the poor. I am their representative.” And I asked him, “Well, does leadership mean that you interrupt people’s day to day life and shout at old women?” To which he did not have any answer and he left muttering unintelligible stuff.
Our little fight had attracted quite a lot of audience. A few of them came to me and warned me to back off. Apparently he was some big shot of that area. My sister was scared and asked me to just shut up, not to take panga and to sit in the car. I sat in the car for a while. My patience was running out. I couldn’t sit there doing nothing, while these guys were shouting at villagers and stopping all the cars. They even hit a man who wanted to cross the road. Goondaism at it’s peak. I then saw 2 little boys running around with flags. I couldn’t take it any longer. I got out again, caught the little boys and asked them, “ Why are you not at school? Do you even know what is going on here?” One boy meekly answered back, “My father told me not to go to school and come with him.” I asked him who his father was. He pointed towards a man who was that main goon’s chamcha.
In the mean time, I see two goons pulling the tree to a side and letting a car go. We thought, finally the drama ends. But, no, that car guy had given him 5oo bucks and they let them go. I flared up. I lost it. I started abusing the head goon. He also accepted my challenge and was shouting back. No manners that a girl was in front of him, he started saying crassy things. I pointed that out to which he says that being a girl from city, I did not deserve respect as we sell our respect with our clothes. He touched my nerve. I simply said, I will no longer talk to an animal. I turned to all the villagers. I said,” Look, this is the guy that you call a leader. A guy who does not even know how to talk to old women and villagers? A guy who has no human feelings? A guy who takes money and lets a car go? A guy who supports those politicians who are completely fake. What KCR are you all talking about? He is on a Fast since 15 days and has not even fainted? A man who is nicely having Honey and water and juice during his fast. Maybe I am not a leader; maybe I don’t understand all your miseries; maybe I can’t lead you all towards prosperity. But, please do not for a second believe that people like these goondas will.” I was very proud as I finished my little speech. I could see that I did touch them. They all looked at me as if I opened their eyes.
The head goonda also noticed it and said, “Don’t listen to madams like these. They only know how to talk. Madam, if you have dum then, move this tree and go.” I smiled, and said, I have a better idea. I went and sat in my car and dialed “100”. Surprisingly, someone picked up. I told the police about the whole drama and gave them our where abouts. They promised me to be there in 15 mins. I got off when I head the villagers talking. They were resounding my thoughts. One old woman repeated my exact sentence and said she saw a point in what I said. One man saw me approaching and asked me what they should do now. I simply told them, we are more in number than they are, so let’s all go together move the tree and cross the road together. The villagers were suddenly all fiery and motivated. They got up together and purposefully started moving the tree. The goons got scared, they saw that the villagers were more in number than they were and backed off. Right at that moment, enter the police. All the goons start running away. The police caught them though and all the villagers start applauding and clapping. I proudly sat back in the car. A lot of the villagers came to me and thanked me. I felt proud that I touched their lives.
Maybe it was not a great feat. Maybe it was nothing in front of what amazing things people do. I am proud that I made a little difference. Maybe one of those villagers will remember what I said next time he met any such goons.
