It is never too late to react ! Response to a comment

Before I write a post on how the event was, let me thank each one of you for your support and encouragement. The event didnt turn out to be as successful as we expected, but we are not in any way disappointed or discouraged; we had taken a vow to unite for more such activities. More details in the next post.

This is basically a response to one of the comments in my previous post. The person who commented is one of my best friend and the replies here are my personal views and so people, dont judge our relationship after this post, we are still going to be the best of friends. and I would request everyone to come out with their own views too.

“I might sound extremely critic on this aspect but I guess I have to. Main beacuse almost a month after that incident, I am one of those guys eagerly tracking the nation's progress on a daily basis.” --- Its great to know that you are keeping a track of whats happening in our country on a daily basis. Why is it that a nations progress is tracked ONLY after such disturbing incidents? Isnt it our duty to know whats happening around us well before that?

“What in the world are you achieving by shutting your mouth and sitting idle for hours together? There have been like 100s of them who have done that before - what have they achieved? You think the politicians will change? you think the terrorists will change? You think you will gain anything apart from some useless publicity?” ---- Our event was not targeted at any politician or terrorist. We want the general public to be aware of their basic responsibilities as a citizen. Infact, one of our main objective in the meeting was to make people aware that India is still a much safer and a united country to live in, its just that the we as citizens have to be a little more socially responsible. If something suspicious happens around you, its your duty to inform the concerned. The terrorists were in Mumbai for months, but our people had been very busy in their respective lives that they failed to see whats happening around them. Why blame the politicians alone everytime? We are equally responsible for this state of our country. If we wanted better leaders, we should have made sure of that while casting our votes. How many of the youngsters take initiative in voting? Many of us still consider taking a day off during the elections rather than exercising the right to vote. Speaking of useless publicity, if we really wanted the useless publicity that was mentioned, we would have called the media, considering the fact that my best friend is one of the best reporters here in Chennai with one of the leading TV news channel. I did speak to her, but only to understand how the legal formalities are. The press club of Chennai was adjacent to where we conducted the meeting, and for your information, none of us approached them for a 'useful' publicity. Moreoever, if you think I, personally, wanted some useless publicity, I would’ve published the below post on Dec 5th itself when we decided to go ahead with this project; publishing one day before the event wouldn’t make a difference at all. And now why silent? It is all about an initiative; all of us have spoken enough. We have had our share of blaming, pitting against each other, but what have we achieved? Nothing at all. Lets see if there is anything that could be achieved by remaining silent. Atleast that way, a protest would be different and not disturb the general public. What is one achieving by burning candles? It is an effort to raise your voice, that’s all. And we were symbolic in raising our voice by remaining silent. There might be even 1000’s who had done this before, its not about what they achieved, it is something beyond that; its more of satisfying our conscious.

“I'm sorry buddy but this is sheer waste of time. Instead what if you guys could silently collect some money and raise a fund for the poor who were dead? Those who didnt manage to get the govt aid? There aer people in Mumbai who raised money to buy good bullet proofs for police men. That is what I call ACTION!” --- Were you a contributor to any of those ACTIONs? Why didn’t YOU take an initiative to raise funds? Why do you expect others to start an event so that you can either follow or criticize? What have YOU done other than tracking and cribbing about the nations progress? How many events have YOU participated, how many common forums have YOU attended to voice your opinion? Ok, I agree, you neednt participate in any activity per se, but don’t you think you are responsible to the society too? If you want a change in your country, why isn’t there a contribution from your end other than paying your taxes ? Sheer waste of time, my friend, is sitting in your chair, tracking the nations progress on a daily basis, cribbing about the politicians and the system, doing absolutely nothing to contribute to the nations progress and venting out your frustrations to your near and dear ones. Collecting money and raising a fund wasn’t our objective. Money and aid isn’t everything; and like you said, there are people to do that. If people are willing to change their attitude towards our country, our government and our system, everything will happen on its own. Wouldn’t you repair your home if it is damaged, wouldn’t you take initiative to stop a similar disaster to happen to your home again? If you can pray for your home, why don’t you pray for the nation that has your home.

“While I apreciate the way you empatize the terror attack and victims, I must say you are doing nothing productive - instead you are being counter-productive!” --- Thanks for the appreciations. If there are 100 individuals to read about us and our objectives, and out of that 100, if there are 10 whom we made to think and if there is atleast one who is willing to change, I consider our mission accomplished or rather we consider it as a productive effort.

Wake up, its not too late yet !!!