My only point is this: We all seem to know the problem but solution none has. Mere rhetore does not serve a nation good. We are fast becoming a nation of mongers. I'm asking you who are these leaders? They are not aliens poured out from outer space. They are amongst us. Leaders are as good as their countrymen. We have to show collective responsibility and stop preying to the whims of these hartals and stone pelting menaces.The spirit is alive in us cannot doubt it, but sometimes implementation leaves alot to be desired.
I will narrate a incident from 2008 uprising. I was in kashmir those days. Hartals and curfews had crippled life. Situation in downtown was grim. People had run out of food stock. Somehow we got a let off for a day or two from curfew. I took a walk around Lal chowk and happened to come across a frail mid 70's years old hawker ( the one's in residency road selling bangladeshi clothes). I kept on looking at him for sometime. I wanted to talk to him. His condition told me that he was worried but I didn't knew how to strike a chord. Somehow I asked for a match box to lit my cigratte and we started our little small talk. I asked him if these incessent hartals have any value in his eyes, that if he doesn't feel disillusioned when his family has barely two meals a day and sometimes even not that. I mean for someone like me I have the liberty to do nothing yet I know I won't suffer a great deal.There was a sense of guilt too in me due to this. But his answer laid to rest everything. He told me son untill we give something we wont have anything. Freedom requires great sacrifices and if that means my family remains hungry for some days I'm ready for it. I went back home and thought about this for a long time. What keeps this old frail man so optimistic when honestly I could see only deceit all around this struggle. The answer lies in the indominitable spirit of oppressed people.I stopped thinking about the unkept promises of our leaders.It didn't matter at that point of the time.That night I could sleep peacefully, for i knew the spirit is alive and kicking.
I will narrate a incident from 2008 uprising. I was in kashmir those days. Hartals and curfews had crippled life. Situation in downtown was grim. People had run out of food stock. Somehow we got a let off for a day or two from curfew. I took a walk around Lal chowk and happened to come across a frail mid 70's years old hawker ( the one's in residency road selling bangladeshi clothes). I kept on looking at him for sometime. I wanted to talk to him. His condition told me that he was worried but I didn't knew how to strike a chord. Somehow I asked for a match box to lit my cigratte and we started our little small talk. I asked him if these incessent hartals have any value in his eyes, that if he doesn't feel disillusioned when his family has barely two meals a day and sometimes even not that. I mean for someone like me I have the liberty to do nothing yet I know I won't suffer a great deal.There was a sense of guilt too in me due to this. But his answer laid to rest everything. He told me son untill we give something we wont have anything. Freedom requires great sacrifices and if that means my family remains hungry for some days I'm ready for it. I went back home and thought about this for a long time. What keeps this old frail man so optimistic when honestly I could see only deceit all around this struggle. The answer lies in the indominitable spirit of oppressed people.I stopped thinking about the unkept promises of our leaders.It didn't matter at that point of the time.That night I could sleep peacefully, for i knew the spirit is alive and kicking.
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