Tuesday, August 23, 2011

What Anna said to me

I was pacing up and down nervously outside the operation theater of the long corridor in the local civil hospital, worrying about the health of the patient being operated upon. It was more than 8 days that the doctor was operating on him and fighting for his life....ignoring the fact that even the doctor himself had not had his food for the same amount of time.

Behind me I could see a huge sea of people with candles, roses, flags, placards etc, shouting slogans and saying prayers.....

Finally, the red light on the top of the OT turned yellow, and the doctor came out totally exhausted but with a huge relief and a broad smile on the face. He gave the napkin he was using to clean his hands to his colleague and smiled and waved at the sea of humanity and said 'Operation Successful....', there was a huge roar from the crowd and people were in tears. The noise quietened in anticipation of knowing more details.

Dr Anna said "Is andolan se jude sabhi logon ko main dhanywaad deta hun. Abhi to maine operation kar diya hai aur patient abhi theekh hai. Lekin abhi bahut kaam baki hai... Agar aap chahate ho ki is patient ko dubara operation ki jaroorat na pade to nichlee baton ka khaas dhyan rakho..."

The literally exhausted Anna then handed over the mike to his personal assistant who began to read from a sheet of paper.

1. While going back make sure you purchase your ticket to your destination and not travel WT(without ticket), and I am confident that you would do so.

2. School and college students who have bunked their classes would put in extra effort to clear the backlog of their studies. This will give you strength to resist any temptation of copying during your exams or looking for ways to leak the question paper.

3. All office goers will put in extra effort to complete all the pending work that had piled up at their desks due to their absence.

Having ignited the candle to fight corruption, please do the following -

a. follow the traffic rules religiously. Do not bribe the traffic constable in case of a violation but pay the appropriate fine and make sure to obtain a receipt.

b. do not barge ahead in any queue but wait for your turn be it a cinema hall, temple, or a bus stand.

c. respect the country's constitution and others right for common resources

d. do not pay bribe for any of your needs

Today, having taken the first step to build a stronger and corrupt free nation lets take the following oath -

1. I shall cast my vote in all the coming elections at all costs.

2. I shall do my homework on all the candidates and vote for the most suitable candidate without being wooed by caste, religion or vote bank politics

3. I shall be vigilant to all the happenings in my constituency and in my neighborhood.

4. I shall not pay bribe to anybody at any cost.

Having read his appeal the PA departed, but Anna made one last appeal to his followers and fans. "Yeh ladaee ka pehla padav hai...har baar operation se kaam nahi chalega.. Agar aap chahate ho ki desh agey bade, tarakki karen... to aap mein se bahut se logon ko politics join karna hoga... Is desh ko imandaar netaon ki sakt jarurat hai. Politics join karo aur desh ke liye system mein rehkar lado. Agar aisa hua toh woh din dur nahi jab Bharat sahi mayane mein ek 'Mahan Desh' kehlayega."

Bharat Mata Ki Jai.....Vande Mataram...

Shouting his slogan he rang the huge bell kept at his table side incessantly....

I woke to find that the alarm in my mobile had started beeping, and realized that Anna had spoken to me in dreams.

However, I got up from my bed folded my hands to pray for the good health of Annaji, and started my day with renewed enthusiasm and vigor to work towards realizing the dream of what Anna had said to me, albeit in my dreams... :)