The Gateway Rally : Launch of a people's movement

I was at the 'Gateway of India' Rally organised by the people and for the people to let those who are in seats of power and those who attacked us know that 'Enough is Enough'. To me it was like living a page out of history. This rally was akin to one of the processions which possibly took place during our freedom struggle to protest against the overall state of affairs or a specific misplaced act of governance during those times. The fact that TV channels were reporting the detection of an IED at the CST railway station while the rally was on detered no one (indeed it only made our resolve stronger to be a part of this and to stand up and to be counted).

What made this rally unique was that people from all walks of life and from all corners of the city were there. Inspite of it being a regular weekday the crowds just did not seem to stop flowing in. We reached the Gateway close to 7 pm and the entire main street and adjoining lanes were jampacked. The tricolours were being held high, slogans of ' Vande Mataram' and 'BharatMata ki Jai' along with those which hit out at our visible and invisible 'enemies' rendered the air.

The most heartening sight was to see a 'Young India' take charge. For an nation with a median age of 23 we do not very often get to see the youth associating themselves with issues like this in a manner like this. One would often wonder that are we only creating a ‘I –Me –Myself’ generation which could maybe at best applaud a ‘Rang De Basanti’ but not be around when it really mattered. This rally proved the notion wrong and if the Indian youth can keep this going nothing can stop us from embracing the glorious future that we deserve.

Something about the involvement of the youth and the buzz told me that the old ‘Spirit of Mumbai’ was itself undergoing a metamorphosis. Yes the quintessential Mumbai character of picking oneself up when the chips are down and getting on with life is a part of our DNA and will continue to be so. What is added and which will be a definite bad news for the ‘powers that be’ and those who have ‘let the entire nation down’ is that when we now get up ,we will not just continue with our life as if nothing ever happened but will demand accountability and action. We will also take all possible steps to ensure that changes do occur in what is becoming an inefficient, archaic and ‘out of sync with the times’ system.

We walked silently through this rally , got to a point as close to ‘The Taj’ as possible and indeed felt as numb and grief stricken as when the terrorist siege and attack was on. While the monument was going through what was ‘the darkest’ moment in it’s lifetime, it had also given birth a few hundred feets away to the ‘brightest’ and possibly the most ‘refreshing’ moments of ‘Independent’ India.

We were witness to a nation that stood united and firm in it’s resolve to change the state of affairs. Here was a nation that woke up realizing it was actually ‘sleepwalking’ through life and was letting elected representatives and babus get away with complete ‘unaccountability’ and ‘self gratification’ of the worst kind. The message from each and every soul present there was that ‘We are not just going to be plonked in front of our TV sets, huddled with a few close friends and hope that things will change for the better, but will step out and do all that we can as individuals and as a society to ‘create the change’ that we deserve’.

Returning back from the rally, we felt motivated and recharged. The feeling of helplessness and sadness that had engulfed the city since last week was giving way to ‘togetherness’ and early signs of a ‘movement for refreshing change’. The chants of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ accompanied us till Churchgate station where many of those who were at the rally had gathered to travel back home.
There were a few messages that I carried back for those who for obvious reasons could not be a part of this rally:
Mr Terrorist : The more you try to divide us and to create mayhem ,the more united and strong we will be. We might be a nation comprising of people from different castes and religion but when it really matters we are ‘Indians first and Indians Last’. A chart at the rally summed this up very well ‘Mr Terrorist : You wanted us in numbers. Here we are ’ .The terrorists are dead but the nation lives on
Mr Politician : The last one week has shown us how self centred, vile and inefficient you are. Frozen by the collective voices of discontent emerging from the nation, you have either stuck your head in the mud like a ostrich and distanced yourself from reality or have displayed a strong ‘foot in the mouth’ syndrome. Another chart at the rally tells you as it is ‘Mr Politician : Stop Acting as a Joker. You are our (the people’s) Naukar’. If you all were waiting for a wake up call, here it is, loud and clear. Either get up and get your act together or you will very soon find yourselves unemployed in these tough times.
I only pray that as we wake up today morning and step out to work and to begin another day, we will do enough to nurture this new ‘Spirit of India’ and will seek, act and create change that is good for the larger cause whenever the opportunity presents itself. We as citizens of India need to take accountability of this sorry state of affairs and also own up the ‘Creation’ of a ‘Strong ,Self Reliant and Stable’ India.