Is this Action?

I have been wondering about a lot of things lately, just thought I did share it with all you guys. Perhaps, you could help me get proper answers. I don’t know how right or wrong I am in my thinking process. Hope these questions get you start thinking too….

I had been to the Gateway of India, Mumbai, for the peace rally yesterday, trying to know what the people are thinking about, wanting to see the action live, wanting to see how many people really wanted a change.

Peace rally? I don’t think I could call it that. Voices could be heard from various directions. Voices with varying emotions.

I could see five kinds of people:

1) Aggressive - They seemed to think that war is the only solution. “Bomb Pakistan!” they said, shouted and cheered. Is this really an option? How different would we be from terrorist or U.S. for that matter, if we decide to kill innocent lives because someone had killed lives back here? - An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

2) Irrational- Slogans asking politicians to resign, wanting the army to take the reign in its hands. A politician resigns another will come in his place.
Are you satisfied with his resignation, is this what you really want? Has it served any purpose? I wonder how many of us actually vote. I read a sane slogan amidst the crowd- “Would you vote me if I contest in the elections?”
I think and try to remember the names of countries which have worked better under military rule. -Can you remind me of any?

3) Brownie point Seekers: I see a large number of slogans. Most having a logo of the appropriate NGO, Company, etcetera. I wonder what the reason is for this. Do you really need to have large boldly printed logos? In fact do you need any logo at all? Is this some kind of promotional event?
There were some government party hoardings too. Wonder Why? -Any guesses?
I notice many people handing out brochures with sensible citizen’s action plan. But, at the end of it I do find each time a different organization’s name, email and website addresses. Why can’t all of them work together instead of as separate entities? - United we stand, Divided we fall.

4) Clueless: A friend informs me about the rally. I ask him more about it. What? Why? He doesn’t know. I ask him whether he will be there. He says: Yes!
People are walking, talking.
I see puzzled faces. In the background I hear voices- Ok! So what’s next?
I wonder if our goal will be achieved by lighting candles, signing online petitions, keeping rallies…….I ask myself…… -So What Next?

5) Spectators: I need to be shameless enough to admit, that I knew that it wasn’t going to be a peace rally and that I really didn’t believe anything concrete could come out of it. But, yet I was there.
Trying to know what the people are thinking about, wanting to see the action live, wanting to see how many people really wanted a change, wanting to show my support that I believed that things could change.
Many like me did not mouth slogans, nor did we respond to slogan we did not believe in.
But, we were very much there.
Another friend whom I accidently meet comments; “The major point of being here is showing our strength! Showing that a large number of people care for things to get better!”
But, how do I convert this care into action? -Is this Action?

Irrespective of the category, which I fit in or anyone fits in, the point to drive home is that a large number of people do care. If only we could channelize this into something constructive. Is it possible to do that?

If we are able to get results this time, it would be a win not only for anti-terrorist movement in India. It would be a win for anti-terrorist movements all over the globe.

And more importantly it would prove to everyone, that if humans can take initiatives on their own they can lessen the impact of many of the incorrect problems on the earth- social, environmental, personal…anything for that matter.