My Hero ! (VKV Jairampur days...NSCN)

Ok... this is just an encomium to my real life Hero,who's also a very close friend of mine.

How many times in our life do we come across a deathlike situation, grim for extra bravado's that we boast of, and certainly a time to subside by the ignominy of looking helpless ?
And how many times do we help being helpless though ?

I get nostalgic (whenever I see covers of TOI newspapers flashing down its own brigade of new age leaders), about this friend. And I can't find the mot-juste to define how this guy really influenced me.

Date:5dec 2001
It was way back during my class 12 days in VKV jairampur. Everyone busy with their own self styled preparation for the board exams in next few months. Some inside their room, some in the walled closet of bathrooms(independent room one could boast of) and some with temporary huts built by bamboos with their own fantasies of cast away for exams style.
It was just the usual evening,juniors in the playground, and most of the batchmates , nowhere to be seen.
Me and three of my friends planned for a Maggi n Samosa trip to Shatroh(17th)mile's canteen. Its a km walk from the hostel, and the favourite stop junction for all the Jairampurians(VKV) to pacify the Hunger or the distasteful elementary taste buds having sedated by VKV MESS FOODs. And the Munims , marwari styled talks certainly made it sure that we come back at the night too. Whatever anyone says, we Jairampurians devoured Eating Munimji's Maggi and half plate plain rice. Atleast it appeased more to our olfactory cells... and its hard arguing them(the cells offcos).

OK..its deviating...got bit nostalgic....

The Story actually starts from here....
As soon as we were done with our Snacks, we came out of the canteen to find three Local guys in bikes parked outside the canteen, staring us... and one of them heavily drunk.
As soon as we passed through them, One of them started shouting and calling out words, and ya...few of those words for VKV Jairampurians. And offcourse this was hurled on us, we being the only VKVians there.
It sounds hilarious when I think of it now...the kind of VKV Patriotism we used to have for our alma mater and Seriously, none of VKV Jairampurains would have patience and let things go, if its about VKV jairampur, but most importantly , If and only if I or any other VKVians happens to be in Jairampur. Hmmmm sounds Doggy logic.

So we looked back, gave them a stare... and offcourse got nothing of the responses that we would have devoured. Hmmm... disappointed we returned back to our hostel.
And all of sudden, one of my companion, got impatient and regretted of having done nothing about the above Incident.
Well, I tried to pacify him , but he insisted on going alone...
Well... the rest is History... Jairampurian History.

It's now.... 10pm....
the Bigger part of the History was yet to arrive, :)
I was discussing with a friend of mine, if we should go and sleep in the classroom... Hmmm he rejected my offer and said there was nothing to worry about.

Some of my classmates , were discussing about the Historical event that we just did, and some in their own Bedshetted Cabins.

Ten minutes passed, I could hear some guys shouting outside.... Thought, it might be some juniors playing around.
Within minutes, the voices became more prominent with , THUDS and SCREEches... and off course, the UHH AHHs part(how can I miss that).
My fears were about to come true...
I could see two gun totted person(militants actually)inside our hostel, and shooving and kicking my other mates out of their room.
Hmmm... with all my fears and prays, I was inside my cabin, breathlessly... and how I wished I could turn invisible to them.
But, alas , it didnt work.
I was forced outside of my room, banged with the gun behind my head, kicked to the walls.... Opps.. Ya...none landed any punches on my face though.

Once I was out of the hostel... another mahabharatha was getting unfolded outside the dormitory. Well, we(VKVians) were offcourse forced to enact the evil sides of any Bolly flicks.... You get all....and take it all.... the punches and the kicks.

Hmmm.... I was terrified looking at my frens getting furled up three or four rounds , in response to just a single kick.
Well, My friends enacting this part of diving and defying newtons law of equal response certainly, didn't amuse the Gun totted militants, numbering 25 to 30, with their china imported guns(as one of them proclaimed this... hmmm.. well we had to buy that line though, all disciplined)....
Some even showed grenades right infront of us.... Well, I didn't know they were from some Suicide squad... :)
Jokes apart... All my friends were terrified, and so were the juniors, held captive at gun point.
They told they were from NSCN militant outfit, and were here looking for class XII guys involved in the fight with one of their informants.
Well, so much for just disciplining... Were they insane ?

We were asked to line up(both class 11 n 12 students)...
One of my closest friend was dragged out from the line and was brought at the front of the queue to sort out the class 12 students who were actually involved in the scuffle.
I was the first among my classmates in the mixed up line,in counting
.... I could see few of my juniors who were infront of me with their terrified mixed feelings about the whole happenings.
So the sorting began....

"Was he among them ?" NSCN cadre with the gun pointed at my friend asked.

"NO " came the reply from my friend ...

"Was he ? "
"NO".... He's kicked everytime toward the end of the row, after every counting...

"Was he ? " ...
"NO "....

Well...answer would obviously have been a "NO"... since all those were asked to identify were from Class XI....
My Number was nearing... I didn't know what they would do to me...

Ya... I remembered my Gods, my parents and my other fairy angels.
I prayed to them... I wanted to Live...

My long waited turn finally came up...

I could see my friend's bruised up face, but a bold glow in his face surprised me...
I showed my grim pale face, so that he could sympathize upon me and say a "NO" just like he did for the Class XI guys. He showed me no response that I would have expected to be kind on me.... save my life.... atleast save me from the beatings.

Well.... " Was he there ?"

"NO"...said he, again kicked ahead.

I was taken aback my his answer... how could he be so foolish to throw such kind of gauntlet to a Militant group, who doesn't spare Military personnels even.

Well... He kept saying NO... till the last guy.

I was amazed by his Courage or what we would say rationally..."his foolishness"...

But, he certainly has won a place in each of our batchmates' heart.
He is my HERO.

****
Sorry, can't disclose his name.
****

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AP - are we really Unified ?

Can Arunachal take some hints from BSP supremo Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh, to bring in the required developments much needed and desired by smorgasbordic congregation of diverse Tribes of AP.
Most of the Indian states were formed on linguistic basis and with a good figure of population to support it, and quite adhered to equivocated doctrined demands, of those specific regions.
UP , with one of the highest population and various regions fused together with all the Hindi speaking people but much in a design of packed up categories of people with different beliefs. Not quite different from what India has been vociferous about, a cliche- Unity and Diversity.

But how much unified are we to reap the benefits of proper governance which is generically claused owing to the virtue of having born there, which uncannily is axiomatic to the jingoistic regionalism and paves in more of dismays for the people outside this sphere of regional influence.

Abysmal state of governance owing to large population of UP, the call for carving it into Harit pradesh, Purvanchal , awadh and Bundelkhand, is much bigger reason for the people belonging to these regions , to welcome such initiatives.
And politicalisation of this celebration, wouldn't outweigh the feelings and expectations of better and easier governance of much smaller population, rhetorically speaking.

But, why this UP event in blog for AP ? Difference is certainly the U and A letters.
U = Compromised "UTOPIAN" dream for UP people.
A= would fit in perfect for " Anonymous ALL", maybe , its time we need to start thinking about ALL.

AP has the one of the lowest population and equivalent low population density, but the state of governance seems to defy the law of proportionality , which should have been proper governance over lesser number of people. But the abject truth is; Bogged down by Regionalism along with corruption and sense of indifference , best describes the governance of AP, and their ubiquitous lacklustre performance .

So , a question moots out, Why this favoured underdevelopment for a certain sectin of the state and a superflous abundancy of wealth and opportunities for the other sects ?

Arunachal , is unique with its composition. It has one of the highest nos of Tribes and majority of which still dwelves in somewhat modified version of Neo-commercialisation era, and the lesser part getting richer, with no one being able or willing to question up this disparity.
Poor and weak , certainly can't question up those Rich and strong; and certainly the benefits of mutual co existence would stop , a rich and strong questioning another of its breed.

So, where do we draw lines from ?
Does diversification of various tribes, with their own region of control, adds much of the virus that attacks , systematic governance. Or is this just a reciprocation of being in sync with what Diversification accounts for , much leading to the favoritism and apathy ?
Well, you guessed it right, one has to face the either of two and any linear theory would support that.

So, does Arunachal exemplifies the Unity in diversity ? ( remember, we've been silent on this for long).
Or does Arunachal exemplifies, a compromised state supporting this cliche, paradoxically ?

Clearly a different paradigm is at work- a paradigm in which a stronger regional tribe with higher population and a capital to control , dictates the terms, atleast most of the times.
Hence the redundant state of this unification.

If this had to be contradictory, then a person involved in some fights with a guy of different region, (in the former's region of control) wouldn't sum up the reason fro the bashings of his fellow tribe people , in the later guy's region of control.
Few months back, Rajiv Gandhi polytechnic students from a specific region had to face this regionalism.
Ok, the point isn't that, the one who has faced such bashings for his no wrong doings, would also favor such, atleast in his region of control, (majority does, few can be exception).

And, this diversification wouldn't have made Roing people to suffer the agony of Darkness(no electricity) for more than 5 months, just because of torrential rainfall, which inundated the Hydel and does it repeatedly even after its repair. And When I talked to an Assistant Engineer, regarding this, he said , to solve this problem permenantly , a modest amount of some 18 + crores, is required , and Arunachal govt is sufficiently poor to sanction that, and all crorepati ministers would be indifferent to that, except for the local MLA , who by virtue has to face the people's lamentations.
Please, 5 months is a long time , that too without power in an age where electricity has become a necessity.
This would be the perfect example of regional favoritism , formulated by ministers who are indifferent to the woes of other region. Maybe , we need to get divided, for the better cause , imaginatively.
To blend in some more points, Roing has been suffering , despite having gained a big name in Big Hydel projects coming up , and Roing people's reluctancy to support the cause , which these politicians think, is for the greater cause of Humanity.
To think about 18+ crores for a district to solve its power problem wouldnt have coughed up the coffers of Govt, but , all I can draw picture is, it was just a power play to teach these people a lesson. Different perceptions.

So, will carving out different states from AP , be a boon for people, who feels they have been out classed ?
I feel, for the better of the mass, and to let most(people)of them feel their role in governance can certainly be attained by dividing the state.
The cultural adjustements atleast would have to take backstage this time.
The Idea, is upon the role played by all the people and letting have them a say, in atleast most of the issues which concerns them, atleast for the sake of accountability , which infact will slowly give rise to a better and conscious thoughts much needed for state or social building.

This thought of having different state doesn't necessarily suffice for being anti national. One can always rejoice of being a proud Indian.

Regional politics certainly bolsters the favoritism toward the natives of their region. Such actions by a group, like individuals tend to act in their own self interest , rather than out of nobility or altruism. And its for better cause of their respective community. But, does such actions accomodate the benefits, the other region people can harvest ?
Yes, legitimacy by legal and constitutional constraints , would certainly cause them to , but can we believe the accomodation has been thorough ?
No wonder, such secessionists ideas wouldn't die so soon . Maybe countries like United States, would inspire us, which prudently boasts of more states ( 50 ) , lesser population to control for each, and better governance , much unlike the populist ideas of Plurality and Diversity , caged in.

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