I stood there looking at the thin air before me.
I never thought it would require courage on my part to take that route of protest for change against the system. It took me courage. Not because I was afraid to stand up for what I believe in but to steer through the insecurities of my loved ones who with all their might tried to talk me out of it. It took some time and energy which I do consider a waste to assure them I'll be fine and so will the rest of us who were coming along.
I reached the venue where I was greeted with curious glances of fellow citizens wondering whether I was there for the same cause as they were. The first thing that struck me was the entrepreneurs whose business was in full form that eve. Tired and hungry fellow travelers ate to their fill and drank to beat the chilly winds. As I stood looking at one such tea-stall vendor, I was asked by a fellow citizen, " Are you here for the protest?" He had the look of empathy and consideration I had seen before. My eyes lit up thinking, This is it! while I said with a hint of enthusiasm in my voice, "Yeah!". He beckoned us.
Apparently we were the only people apart from the organizers who had reached the venue on time. We stood there while the crowd became thicker and the wind became warmer. When everybody had their cup of tea, the candles were lighted. Involuntarily we jumped towards the lights with some apprehension in our movements. The whole world seemed to circle around that candle.
We felt awkward. We felt scrutinized. We felt helpless against the wind that extinguished our candle again and again. But we took it like a challenge - to show the wind we will light our candle no matter how strong it blew, to show the society we will bring the change in it no matter how rigid and rotten its belief system is.
By now I had shifted the focus from my own awkwardness and self-scrutiny to the on-lookers. We got multiple reactions. There were people who were rushing past us since they were obviously too busy to notice 50 people starting at them with candles in their hands. There were folks who noticed us, wondered what we were upto and passed. There were folks who were indeed interested enough to slow their vehicles to take a good look at us. The auto-rickshaw pullers assumed we were looking for a ride and beckoned us. Some pedestrians joined us. It made it all worth it. There was one particular reaction that I still remember, a fat guy dressed in white in a big white car saluted us as he drove along. I didn't feel pride, just indifference at his and other peoples' guilt. Somewhere we are all guilty of letting the state of work become so deplorable. Somewhere we are that fat guy dressed in white who's too occupied to come out of his car and take the chance of his clothes getting dirty.
We need to put an end to violence against the fair sex. And we need to chose our own way of doing it. It will make our clothes dirty and the candle wax and flame will burn our hands once in a while. But it will be worth the pain.
Talk to one person and convince them to treat men and women as equals. Help one person understand what that equality means, even if that one person is you yourself.
And as I said, devise your own way of bringing about this change. That Saturday, standing on a street with a candle is what I chose.
