The times have come to such a pass that people do not mind to part with few rupees but not with few minutes of their time. The separate Telangana movement is an exception. It is unique in many ways. People's participation in it is voluntary cutting across party affiliations and community divisions. The rich and poor all took part in the agitation with gusto.
It brought together everybody and held
them for days on and on. It is something phenomenal in modern times primarily
because it followed a non-violent line even when tempers ran high. The people
poured onto streets and main thorough fares taking out processions, staging
demonstrations and obstructing vehicular movement. They were all demanding a
separate state-hood to the Telangana region. The rallies, rasta-roko and demonstrations have become
order of the day. Since the last week of
November 2009, the mass movement gained momentum by the day and soon
every section of the society took part either directly or symbolically
expressing their wish for a new state. Persons practising every vocation came
together to form Joint Action Committee (JAC) - potters, cobblers, painters,
masons, smiths, workers and every section virtually in every village. And then
they had a village level JAC. People cutting across their political
differences, castes and religions came together with one demand - separate
Telangana. There were women living in colonies who came together taking out
candle light rallies at the dusk everyday. Every person in the district was in
one or the other JAC. As a member of
public, I used to rejoice seeing large number of people at several places and
often to great stretches of roads fighting for a cause. The old idealism is
back or so it seemed. I was pleasantly surprised at the intensity of sentiment
for separate Telangana that brought everybody together especially the students
community. It was heartening to see that when leadership failed, it was the
students who led the movement from the forefront in a peaceful manner.
As a journalist, I saw everyday as an
opportunity. Everyday was a challenge too. I am an addict of printed word. I
read all the time. I search for international reports filed by Reuters, AFP and
other agencies on all issues. I read magazines and relish much the off beat and
human interest stories. The everyday events posed a challenge to me. How would
I write this event? This question always was heavy on my mind. The same events
were taking place everyday and everywhere. I have to think of a new angle in
every report and in every event. Thanks to my well wishers - Mr K Damodar Rao
of English Department of Kakatiya University and Lok Satta leader Mr Parcha
Kodandarama Rao who read my writings everyday in The Hindu and evaluate them.
They would often point a mistake or appreciate something good. The regular
interaction with them gave me new insights into the events. It was Mr Damodar
Rao who wanted me to focus exclusively on the folk art forms and how they were
utilised by the people to express their protest.
People came out in large numbers everywhere and I standing amidst the crowds reminded me of Polish journalist Ryszard Kapunscinski who reportedly witnessed about 27 uprisings across the globe escaping death a score of times. His book Another Day of Life featuring his experiences in Angolan civil war was written beautifully. I often wondered if the situation warranted me, whether I would write like that. Would I be witness to a historic event of formation of separate Telangana - a new state with its unique cultures, languages, new geographical borders and with so much euphoria. There was exhilaration all around. The rallies and rasta-rokos seem to have become part of life here. But what pained me most was reporting of the suicides of young people and students who took the extreme step as a mark of protest. I felt for them as most of the youngsters are from the downtrodden sections of the society. My wishful thinking is that the emotive issue will be resolved soon in favour of the decades-old demand so that loss of precious lives would be averted.
