Many Bellandur residents have been enthused by the anti-corruption campaign. They are organising small and large local rallies, candle light vigils and protests.
It started earlier this week itself – Aug 16th saw a human chain and singing of the National Anthem on ORR.
One of the organisers of a protest on 19th August, Geetha Arvind, shared this on our federation mailing group, "Started at around 9am with one person and kept growing with time and by 11am there were more than 60-70 people… Cab drivers joined, auto drivers joined… Many junta from softzone companies were present". Another march from Iblur Junction to Marathahalli happened on 19th August at 3 pm.
This evening, I attended a 6:30 pm Candlelight vigil opposite Total Mall, Sarjapur Road. The group was about 100 strong. There was slogan shouting, from the usual "Corruption Down Down", ‘Bharath matha ki jai’ to ‘Anna tum aage badho, hum tumhare saath hai’ and even a ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star, Anna is a super star’. They shouted ‘darti hai darti hai, lokpal se darti hai’. I presume people meant janlokpal.
A rally on 19th in front of Total Mall, Sarjapur Road. Pic: Meera K
The crowd was enthusiastic, with some members leading the slogan shouting, voice slowly giving away. We walked from Total Mall up till Springfields apartment. At about 9.15 pm the other rally from Kristal Jasper – more than 200 strong joined us.
Many residents had come with children. The largely apartment/layout communities crowd saw a few people from the nearby villages join in. Chetan and Bore Gowda from Kasavanahalli, working in Sai Exports joined in. They were initially lost in the largely Hindi-English speaking crowd.
They wanted to add Kannada versions of the slogans. Encouraged by a few, they yelled, Saaku Saaku, Brashtachaar saaku, Beku, Beku Janlokpal beku; Anna Hazare bimbilisi, Brashtachaara virodhisi. The crowd willingly repeated these words, though they were not familiar with them. It seemed, once they felt accepted, the two young men, happily join the rest in English, Hindi slogans and a Saare Jahan se Accha.
Many other meetings and walks are planned. One group plans to form groups of 10 and walk along ALL the neighborhoods in this area distributing pamplets.
Saturday 9 am – 11 am: All the way from Iblur Jn to Marthahalli & Iblur to Wipro-Sarjapur campus. Assemble starting at 9 am on ORR/Sarjapur Rd. Try to bring a few neighbors and/or colleagues everyday. Get a banner or placard if you have one. Come prepared to deal with noise, pollution & possibly heat later in the day.
Saturday afternoon, 3 pm: Assemble at ICICI Bank and visit Freedom Park (in carpools, City bus etc)
Sunday 9:30am : An open-air, open to all information session on Lokpal.
– Recap of the Govt lokpal provisions (30mins, English)
– 5-10 citizens to share their views on ONE specific aspect of the law or corruption (2mins max)
– Send your contact and topic if interested to speak
– Location: outside ICICI Bank, Bellandur
Sunday 9:30am : Go to Freedom Park. Group leaves from Mantri Flora. The cycling group has planned to ride to Freedom Park from Iblur at 9:30am on 21-Aug. More people can join us on motor cycles, cars or what ever commute-mode one like.
Sunday afternoon, 3pm: Assemble at ICICI Bank and Visit Freedom Park (in carpools, city bus etc)
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