Many Many Happy returns of the day Bapu. In the heavens you
must be surely partying by working more on Charkha, while here in India,
government departments are praising you and your vision lavishly for
significant contribution in India’s development. Ironically though, you
believed on Simplicity and probably that’s the reason you are worshipped.
Critics of you lambaste that how you were a hypocrite; of your inaction in
saving the life of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev as you feared for the fan-following
they were commanding in youth. You are also criticized for your induced
naiveness when British were recruiting millions of Indian soldiers to fight in
foreign lands especially when you were prophet of non-violence and peace. You
are also criticized by the tales of your hegemony and how you thrashed democratic
procedures for electing P Sittaramayya over S C Bose in 1938 Haripura session
or acting as Dronacharya by asking Sardar Patel to cancel his candidature in
1946 so that Nehru get elected.
However, for us, the generation who was born to celebrate
the golden and diamond jubilee of independence, you were the hero, the father
of nation. We were taught in schools of how you bravely fought with British to
fetch us independence and that too only with the help of your Lathi. I was
simply amazed!!! You being the one worshipped, I decided to follow your footsteps
and practice life of Truth, simplicity and non-violence. Year’s passed. As a
student, I always heard stories of Babus, Pandus and Lukkhas exploiting people
to get money from corrupt practices. In fact, I pitied my friends who paid
bribe to get their job done. You know, I still abided by your principles.
With a strong belief on you and your principles, I decided
to get my driving license without any agent. I was termed insane by my friends.
But, inside, I had a belief on you and your principles. And then this belief
was shattered!!! I was forced to make a couple of rounds to the RTO office
Vasai. I found myself helpless, running from pillar to post, even when I was
having all the requisite documents. Graciously you only rescued me. It was only
after offering the authority Rs 1000 note, I got my learning license. Your
smile on the note was strange and vicious to me as if making a mockery of me.
Time passed by and as I was shouldering more and more family
responsibility, I realized that without you (definitely on note), none of my
work will be done. I myself became a part of the corrupt racket by offering
bribes to get my work done. I simply couldn’t wait till eternity by sticking to
your principles. Every time a paid a bribe, an internal feeling loathed my
soul. But Bapu, this is India of 2012 and we are forced to pay bribe even for
getting our lawful dues.
Some 20 months ago, we were given hope by a man who claimed
to be your disciple. We as a country supported him wholeheartedly. We thought
we won, when the merciful Government of India agreed to our demand of strong
LokPal bill. But Alas! it was all farce. The government used
Saam-Daam-Dand-Bhed to discredit the movement and dishonor the leaders.The call
for strong Anti corruption bill is falling on deaf ears and with every passing
day, new scam and scandals are being unearthed.
Neither your ideology of truth, nor your methods of
non-violent protest are yielding any results. All our petitions are turned away
with a blind eye. Lately, I have started to believe, that your mathods are not going to work and to let our grievance
heard, we need to follow the method employed by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt,
to make some loud explosions do that the deaf government listens to our voices.
I know that you abhor violence and the path chosen by might cause peril to our
lives. But Bapu, you only once said “It is better to be violent, if there is
violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence”
P.S: Give my warm regards to Manjunath, Navleen Kumar, Raju
Shetty and many other unsung heroes who fought against corruption and have
joined you.
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