Peter Theobald describes his experience at the protest in support of a strong anti-corruption law at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan

Peter Theobald

Day 2, Sunday, 21 August 2011, seemed to have begun right from where Day 1 left off.

It started with the re-appearance of 18-year-old Dipesh, who had collapsed on the stage the previous day, while addressing the audience on the fifth day of his fast. Helped by another supporter, he walked onto the stage. Guts of steel. This guy was not going to give up. A silent prayer crossed my lips.

A huge morcha of middle-aged and old women came right up to the stage. They were followed by the Mill Workers'Association. The president (an old hand at oratory and working with large audiences) announced that 70,000 members of the association had pledged their support to the movement. And that they would be willing to participate in the jail bharo (courting arrest).

A group of handicapped protestors in wheelchairs arrived to thunderous applause. They had undertaken a padyatra (a protest march) from the Gateway of India to the Azad Maidan, a distance of about two kilometres. Is there no one untouched by the movement?

The speeches and slogans continued. But I noticed three qualitative differences from the previous day. The first was that the protestor speakers were now getting to the core of the matter. That all change begins with the self. And ends in the self, the speaker added for good measure. We have to change ourselves, every day in the morning, promise that we will do no corrupt act, no act for which we will be ashamed. Only then the Jan Lokpal law will make a difference.

The second was that they exhorted people, who were just sitting at home and watching TV, to come out on the streets to join the protest. One used a particularly telling phrase to get people to change from being armchair critics to actively involved protestors. "Shivaji is not born only in someone else's house", implying that each one can become a revolutionary, and no one should expect only others to don the role.
 
"Give and take of course is corruption. But keeping silent also is." The speaker referred to Chanakya to justify his point. (Chanakya was the Indian philosopher and strategist in the court of the Mauryas in the 4th Century BC). "Dusht ke dushta se na daroon, sajjanta ki niskhriyatha se."(I am not afraid of the wickedness of the wicked, but more of the inaction of the decent people.) We speak of the woes of the silent majority; seems not much has changed in centuries!

They also started appealing to the minds of people, besides their emotions. Don't support this movement just because Anna Hazare is a good man. Support it because you understand the issues involved. They explained in detail the difference between the citizens' and the government's versions of the bill, and how the government draft was toothless. They distributed handouts and put up posters highlighting the differences and urged people to read them to understand the real issues. Check out http://kiranbedi.com/jlp.pdf for details.

The movement continues to be strictly apolitical and though politicians as a class have been berated, no personal attack against any one is tolerated. One speaker tried to attack a specific politician but the mike was quickly taken away from him, with the caution that "we are not against people, but against the system".

Free lunch was announced. Someone had volunteered to provide food to all the people at the venue; there were easily 5,000 or 10,000 of them!

Film stars Shreyas Talpade and Celina Jaitley came up on stage to express their support. Shreyas spoke in chaste Marathi, on the issues that others before him spoke about. One would not have known that he was a film star if he was not introduced on stage. Celina Jaitley took the mike next. What will this glamour doll say now, I wondered. Speaking in Hindi, she said, "I come here as the daughter of an army officer, from a family that has fought battles for the country. I come here to support the movement." I kicked myself. How deep my prejudices are!

Media persons standing around went crazy. They rushed to the stage to get a sound byte from the stars. They clashed with the organisers and there was a heated argument. I thought, 'Oh no, it is exactly something like this that will sabotage the movement, and give the authorities an excuse to step in and break up the agitation.' But I was worrying needlessly. These guys are made of stronger and smarter stuff. Naresh Thakur, a 26-year-old organiser, on the sixth day of his fast (these guys really walk the talk!) stood up and with folded hands requested everyone to maintain peace. That worked somewhat, and then he pulled out his trump card. Asked everyone to stand and sign the National Anthem. That restored sanity in two minutes flat.

To ensure that the tensions had completely melted away, Deepak, another protestor on the sixth day of his fast, gave a rock-star like performance of movie songs, modified to suit the movement. Another speaker, a mill worker from Dharavi, also on the sixth day of his fast, stood up to protest against the police who did not allow the fasters to sleep at the site and forced them to go to a dormitory to spend the night. I will walk to the dormitory today and walk back on the seventh day of my fast, he said. Wonder where they get their energy from?

I soon got my answer. I thought I had seen everything, but nothing prepared me for what came up next. A group of nine musicians came up to the stage with all their equipment-Roland synthesizers, octopads, amplifiers, speakers. There was only one small twist. They were all blind. And they called themselves 'Talent Band 20/20' (of course). For those who didn't get it, they were alluding to the fact that opticians call those who have perfect vision as 20/20 vision.

The compere of the group (himself blind, of course), was a master orator. A sample quote: "Anna is going on a seven-day fast to prevent the next seven generations from going hungry." The group then proceeded to belt out popular patriotic songs with such fervour that the crowd got completely charged.

Actually, that is an understatement. I never felt so much energy in one place in my whole life. Music and patriotism is a potent mix. Singing, cheering, yelling, chanting. The atmosphere was pulsating with energy that is difficult to describe in words. The people on the sixth day of their fast stood up and started dancing and clapping and cheering. The organiser, Thakur, who was tense after the altercation with the media, was smiling again. I took some videos that I shall upload on Facebook, but they do not do justice to the moment.

The music went up to a crescendo. My hairs stood on end. I actually felt stronger now than I felt in the morning, when I left home for Azad Maidan. I scanned myself, could feel no sign of weakness on the second day of my fast. It's really true. Man does not live by bread alone. I felt it to be my good fortune to be a part of this movement and to witness this first hand.

Amid the cheers, another man came up. I could not make out clearly, but it seems he had driven a bullock cart all the way from Ralegan Siddhi (Anna Hazare's hometown, several hundred kilometres away) to join the protest. It had taken him seven days. And he was fasting all the while.

I could not take any more. I picked up my bag to return home. I called my wife Rita to tell her that I was on my way back, only to hear her say that she was planning to join the protest march from Bandra to Juhu in the evening.