When Anna became my Santa

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As he lies on a hospital bed in Pune recovering from severe bronchitis, I pray for Anna's recovery. He is the best brand ambassador India can ever produce to cut across boundary lines and regions. Much before Anna became a rage for the masses, I got to know the activist during his Kashmir visit in 2001. This was a first sign of a humane India we as kids were introduced to, after several years of thinking that India only stands for the gun-toting soldier. Although today many would debate Anna's non-violent image trading their guns on his idea of whipping alcoholics but contrary to its criticism across mainland India the idea I am sure would draw a huge mass appeal and would be no less than a CBM at a time when a former Chief Minister of J&K recently caused furore by making public that bars across the Valley should be re-opened.

Anna's maiden Kashmir visit in the midst of a chilly winter way back in 2001 was a very warm gesture. To all those who believe the Delhi chill had recently undone Anna and thus he moved his base to Mumbai would be proven wrong by the fact that Anna braved the chill in Kashmir protecting himself with just a single layer while rest all of us around him were tucked-up in heavy woolens in the sub-zero temperature. That December I'd got my first ever Santa in a dhoti and a spotless pristine white sweater standing for peace and harmony in the conflict hit state of J&K. Someone who looked flawless quite like the blanket of snow across the hills and the valley. It was that snowman look-alike Anna who preached the idea of India vis-à-vis development. But today unfortunately Anna has been caught in the deep political ruckus. The activist Anna who'd once given us the dreams of developing model villages in states of J&K and North East seems to have disappeared somewhere.

Much before Anna became our guest there were others we'd hosted during the years of peak militancy in the valley. Most of them being NGO activists who unanimously spoke the same language on peace. That of a borderless world but yet would be amused to notice an Imran Khan holding the world cup trophy on my bedroom wall. Anna defied this logic. His approach was more gentle & more personal. For me having been brought up in Kashmir's turmoil the idea of the heroes of the Indian freedom struggle against the British like any average Kashmiri kid was limited to history text books. Anna opened a new window. One leading to the other India that was miles away from the several regiments of military men parading across the valley. For me he became a bridge to connect myself and the valley to the faraway Sahyadiris where Anna had carried out massive development.

The "fakir" in Anna became a guiding principle and soon after his discourse on Gandhian philosophy, I had the privileged of sharing the same hostel building at the Deccan Educational Society in Pune where Veer Savarkar was kept imprisoned by the British for days. It's for Anna's vision and the help from Pune based NGO Sarhad that I went to an institution with an inspiring list of alumnus such as Veer Savarkar and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Anna became Santa once and taught me to break the barriers, whether linguistic or cultural. Whether it was the Maharashtrian culture or learning the local language, I continue carrying Anna's message back home - that development is the key word and can be an answer to every grave problem. Now that Christmas is over and as we step into a new year, I hope Anna plays my Santa soon again and takes forward his unfinished agenda of peace and development along with his larger fight against corruption. Wishing Anna a very speedy recovery.