Stayin Alive

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Our office was being painted you know , whitewash on the walls.I was at my desk writing this piece."Bhai , Zara paani dena" it was one of the painters.He couldnt enter the pantry,cause he had paint all over him.I got up ,gave him two glasses of water.He started drinking from the first glass.

Tuesday 04/04/06

Medha Patkar was sleeping,it was about 2:30pm.I was at Jantar Mantar.There were about 6 different demonstrations going on.The shiv sainiks were shouting "Shiela Dikshit hai,hai" on the other side of the road , nobody cared.I was at the NBA or the Narmada bachao andolan camp.I was there to ask Arundhati Roy if she would appear on one of our shows,she agreed. All News channels were present.Reporters waiting for a "byte" of Medha patkar,with fillers from Saiffuddin Soz and other politicians.I was relaxed joking with Sindhu(our correspondent),i didnt care about andolans,i saw no point in fasting /shouting.The 'andolan' was based under two huge trees on a footpath.I moved forward , just wanted a closer look at Medha Patkar."Please take your shoes off" , he was a short man with an 'NBA Activist' badge.I realised that evryone had their shoes off,but taking off my shoes was too much of an effort.I backed off,into the 'shoes on' zone.There was this female activist sitting on the ground,reading some papers.I looked at her ,I knew this lady.Back in 1997 when i was in school,i remember seeing this 'girl'.She was a senior.She defined being COOL , she was full of energy and always wore a smile.She had the most amazing walk,her hair swung from right to left with each step that she took - Awesome!.

Yeah , it was her.The smile was gone,the cool walk - 'out'.The school uniform had disappeared,she was in a plain suit.I froze,the ambeince changed.I couldnt believe how this girl could become an activist,i mean it wasnt fair.this girl was in her prime she could have been anything.,done anything.Thats when i realised that what an andolan means.People like Medha Patkar give up their whole life for a cause,you need 'Character' for that.Character is nothing but Control.'A Cause'
that you so strongly believe in that you are ready to lay anything on the line for it.All of a sudden I could feel Medha Patkar's pain & it had nothing to do with the NBA.I am neither against or for Medha Patkar,but i could not watch her suffering.

first published:April 10, 2006, 13:51 ISTlast updated:April 10, 2006, 13:51 IST
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