Dec 4, 2008

Our duty is to effect change - Akshay, Alap, Anish, Gaurav, Pranav, Priyanshi

Have Your Say! To publish your post on this blog mail it to haveursay@rocketmail.com

SHOUT OUT LOUD!


On the 3rd of December, exactly after a week of the horrendous attacks that rocked Mumbai and the entire country, we decided to voice our opinion on what had happened. The comics you see below were made into huge banners that we took and stood at the places where the terror attacks had effected the highest damage - the Gateway of India and Marine Drive.

It was very heartening to receive extremely positive responses from the people for two things -
one that they really appreciated the youth, that is us, doing something so differently and two that they needed not only to vent out but to actually demand action from those responsible.

Which is what the peace rally at the Gateway in the evening was meant for. You will hear much more from us on this initiative we are calling The 2611 Opinion. To be a part of this, just mail your suggestions and articles or poems to haveursay@rocketmail.com. As citizens of the largest democracy in the world, it is our duty not only to voice our opinions but also to demand and effect change. Jai Hind.





1 comment:

raker avida said...

Hi,
Your act of taking time out of your daily schedules and prioritising the awakening deserves appreciation and support.
I wish to make it clear that neither am I drifting away from the thought proposed in your post nor am I dissuading these efforts by you and similar groups. I just think there are some other things at the root of these disturbances which Indians want to conveniently connive.
People demand better action and reforms in the agencies responsible for law and order in the country. Ultimately the citizens or the common man as well as the authorities are playing a blame-game.
We first disturb the order and then expect the already understaffed system to restore it.
There are simple 'common' things that ought to be done by all these so called 'common' people who fall victims to several things and start accusing the system of inefficiency.
I am not saying the system is doing enough. I am saying the so called 'victim' i.e. common people are also not doing enough.
If these common people perform their duties of a sensible citizen, half the problems would vanish. Not littering and spitting in public places, not breaking laws of traffic and public transport are the simplest things an Indian could and must do without any extra effort. Nobody has to get out on the streets particularly for this. this is done everyday when we are already on the streets.
What I want to say is that the law-breachers like terrorists can be spotted better if there are less law-breaking people. Isn't it easier to spot black spots on a white cloth?
People don't stop littering even after the blasts in Delhi where the explosives were kept in garbage.
Everyday I try to request some peoplenot to spit or litter but I haven't been able to convince many yet. We blame the system. Aren't we a part of the system? Don't we have sufficient power to do these simple things? It is the responsibility of the system to clean but it is our system not to let our area get dirty.
You guys are young like me. You definitely agrre with me on this. YOu are also a part of the media. SO you can come up with better ideas to change people at micro level since the macro level efforts don't seem effective.
All the best!