Can we be Kabir please?

Dear Himanshu ji

Today I am thinking of the film Guide- bachao re- is all I can think of.

I am not going to let this go by without taking a step back to see what is happening. And maybe even laugh a little.As a friend I hope I am able to be responsible and not goad you to over stretch.

At the same time I also hope you are able to be responsible and not imagine yourself as a messiah for anyone. Popular support can sometimes do that to people. And I am sure it is exciting to be called Gandhi. It would freak me out considerably.

I hope you will remember that you are not- Gandhi I mean. And you are not fighting an alien power for independence. You are standing in a war zone, and refusing to move out. Because many people are also stuck there. But you and they were not born with the proverbial Kawach.

I would like to share with you that others here, away from Dantewada are also thinking of you. Being an outsider does give us a perspective that is impossible for you and the others who are there with you physically present in the fast to have.

Of course there is the possibility that I am being very cynical. In which case, just go on and do what you must- but I do think that there is a visible adulation in the voices that are supporting you. A bad idea in that it puts some other people off very badly. For example For me it is almost embarrassing to have someone tell me that you are Gandhi- I mean you may have the potential for that kind of greatness. But I think everyone is potentially that way - there is as much a Durga in me as Gandhi in you, and believing that landed me into considerable trouble.

I think those kind of accolades and comparisons are best offered posthumously. Arjun pointed out to me on my trip to Yamunotri that moksha would happen only when I died.

Your fast is definitely helping people who are on the internet think more about the situation in the region. But to me this is only an indication that people who are outside must and can participate in the lives of people who are remote, and different. It shows me that compassion is felt by people who to me seemed indifferent a few years back. It tells me that you are an excellent catalyst to bring out emotion in people who had difficulty expressing solidarity with a people they really did not understand.

Your fasting has provided everyone an opportunity to gather together, and focus.

I am concerned that you might assume a leadership - which might turn out to be too much when the fast is over. I hope all the people who are participating now will also think of a strategy to continue to participate after the fast is over.

There is no demand that you have made, and so there is no successful conclusion of this process unless the process is defined. What I mean is that unless there is a sharing of future responsibilities and concenrs this issue could just get linked with you personally Himanshu ji.

And I think no one person is capable of being leader. Also many people who are your contemporaries may not be able to be lead the way some others can. In fact an assumed leadership may work towards alienating them.

What then would I consider support, and not detrimental? Perhaps if there were some discussions about the readiness of the tribals themselves. Or the direction that future solidarity can take. And the way the other leaders in their own sphere can contribute.


Of course I might be wrong.So I am posting this on various places- for people to comment. The blog allows anonymous comments as well. Also if anyone thinks this post should be shared with someone they know, please pass on.

I would be happy to have people tell me I am wrong.

Silence does not speak to me. I am just not made that clever. Time teaches me nothing about the future. All my experience has taught me is to go on talking- so I request others to speak up too.

Cheers

Smita