Everything is over by 10PM. People started leaving and we distributed lot of manuals and pamphlets. Nellore Yuvsatta leader Mahidhar provided dinner for us. Some of us wanted to take rest and some want to go to Hyderabad immediately. I conducted mini poll and most people voted to travel in night. Mr. Ratnam and Mr. Mahidhar left us at bus station. Since we did not have time and plan on how many people and who they are, we do not have tickets. My plan was to buy tickets myself and apply for reimbursement. We came to know that next bus is at 4:30 A.M. and decided to go back and sleep for some time. However both Ratnam garu and Mahidhar switched off their phones by this time and we are struck for all night :) We decided to go to Vijayawada and then go to Hyderabad. There is no room for 24 of us in a single bus and we got split and left in two buses from Nellore. We reached Vijayawada early morning and there are two alternatives for us to leave for Hyderabad. Express bus costs around 100Rs/- and luxary bus costs around 250Rs/-/. Against wishes of few people, I bought tickets in express claiming weather is cool, it is faster route and also we have to cut budget.
The bus journey was really good. We enjoyed it and we distributed pamphlets in every stop and also gave to every one in the bus. I arranged breakfast and water for every one. Two Idli Vada costed around 15Rs/-. We also had lot of sweets and snacks left from Hyderabad Journey. We reached Hyderabad around 12PM. I felt very sorry. If I go can back, I will provide more food for people.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
JP's speech at Nellore
I watched several youtube videos, but I never listened to JP's speech directly. Around five thousand people attended the event. Train was two hours late, but people still stayed on. While JP was talking, people watched with great attention. This was the first time, where JP attacked other parties and their populist schemes in a public speech.
As it is already time for return train and tickets were booked, many leaders left the place. We were running three hours late. While we were listening, Devi Prasad approached us and suggested us to distribute pamphlets and manuals. Whenever we missed giving to some people in a row, they were raising or calling us. When I distributed material near a group of people, they were competing with each other to get the paper first. I wonder whether people are interested in Lok Satta or they do that for every party. I wish they show the same interest in voting for Lok Satta.
As it is already time for return train and tickets were booked, many leaders left the place. We were running three hours late. While we were listening, Devi Prasad approached us and suggested us to distribute pamphlets and manuals. Whenever we missed giving to some people in a row, they were raising or calling us. When I distributed material near a group of people, they were competing with each other to get the paper first. I wonder whether people are interested in Lok Satta or they do that for every party. I wish they show the same interest in voting for Lok Satta.
My first public speech
Our train did not reach Nellore in time. Moreover we had planned for a road show in Nellore. More than 200 people were waiting at station, but they still wanted to do a shortened road show. I had talked to Sridhar garu, president of Lok Satta Nellore unit. He allocated three minutes time for me, and so I decided to skip the show and reach the stage directly. There were already two speakers ahead of me. By the time I got chance, I heard the noise from JP's procession coming along. Anchor requested me to complete in one minute. I started with my introduction as person from Nellore, information about train journey and request to Nellore people to wake up for the occasion like they did during Tikkana's time and also during Potti Sriramulu time. The speech was not up to my satisfaction, but I am happy that I communicated what I wanted to. After I concluded, two dancers rushed to dias for performing 'Lok Satta Janam Balam' song as invitation to Dr. Jayprakash Narayan.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Krishna Express - Food management
Leaders from Warangal made breakfast arrangements. They delivered more than sixty packets and few hungry people were able to take second serving. Kiran garu made food arrangements for only 35 people according to his original calculations. We needed at least twenty more parcels and had to order second time. It was like couple of hours between two orders. Lot of people were hungry. We delivered them first to all ladies, some leaders and media people.
As the news about shortage of food started spreading, people started gathering around food and some people are collecting two packets for their friends. We had to control them to sit in their seats and explain what was going on. Pruna garu became belligerent on few volunteers and asked them to show restraint and cop cooperate. Overall the incident reminded me that we are living for food. It also gave me chance to know who are really capable volunteers who are good enough to keep their hunger aside and delivered food to others and physically fit under extreme heat and lack of food. We had snacks and fruits and so they helped to manage in between the food schedules.
As the news about shortage of food started spreading, people started gathering around food and some people are collecting two packets for their friends. We had to control them to sit in their seats and explain what was going on. Pruna garu became belligerent on few volunteers and asked them to show restraint and cop cooperate. Overall the incident reminded me that we are living for food. It also gave me chance to know who are really capable volunteers who are good enough to keep their hunger aside and delivered food to others and physically fit under extreme heat and lack of food. We had snacks and fruits and so they helped to manage in between the food schedules.
Krishna Express - Security management
We assigned a seat for Dr. JP and entourage in the middle of the train. However he opted the first row. It turned out to be good, since he could walk in out easily. We assigned four people for JP's security. Their goal is to protect JP and stand on all four corners of him. JP has government assigned security officer and so the responsibility of these people was mostly to control mob stampede around him. It turned out that four people are not enough and it was not easy. Few among them complained on others that they are not doing job and vying for media. We took two additional measures. We added four more people. We requested Dr. JP to talk from door instead of getting down, unless train stops for more than ten minutes.
It is mostly smooth except at one place. It was huge crowd in Vijayawada and there were so many people coming and talking to Dr. JP. We also did huge parade in entire station. It stops there for thirty minutes and the time was not enough. Some of us stayed inside train as watch force. Srinivias, Pradeep etc. did great job here washing and refilling water to save some money. Since it was hot, people were consuming water like crazy.
It is mostly smooth except at one place. It was huge crowd in Vijayawada and there were so many people coming and talking to Dr. JP. We also did huge parade in entire station. It stops there for thirty minutes and the time was not enough. Some of us stayed inside train as watch force. Srinivias, Pradeep etc. did great job here washing and refilling water to save some money. Since it was hot, people were consuming water like crazy.
Krishna Express - Mob control inside train
It was 5:55AM and there are only five minutes left for departure. Lok Satta party strictly gave guidelines to every leader and volunteer to buy platform ticket to avoid negative publicity. Media and other dignitaries who are accompanying JP came inside with their luggage. When the train started departure, we did not have time to selectively allow people and let the doors open. There are people everywhere inside the train. Mr. Ravi Muruth, one of the Lok Satta leaders was furious and asked who is leading this tour and control the mob. That was my first challenge.
I took mike and announced all leaders and media to sit in their designated seats and the rest of the volunteers and supporters to move backside of the train. With the help of Govind and Balaji, we called all the volunteers opted yesterday to come in and sit in designated seats for volunteers. Ratnam garu was vouching for several volunteers he knew, but I did not allow to avoid any problems. Around five people who are supposed to come did not come. We decided to allow five more people. Still there are twenty additional people in train. I listed out activities and responsibilities and people are welcome only if they are willing to do. We started requesting other people to go to next bogey and come to Nellore, if they really like Lok Satta. We selected only ten people including few friends of Ratnam garu. Among the people allowed, some turned out to be lazy and did not help at all in further journey. However some people really helped. I had to write about Bhaskar, one of one of the people allowed in last minute. I liked his work in the train journey. I had worked with him later on several occasions.
It did not end there. Throughout the train journey people wanted to come and travel with JP. This became nightmare. We decided to not allow any new people and assigned Balaji to be at entrance all the time. First problem is to identify the people who are in train. Most leaders and media get out at every station and rush back. It took one bashing from a leader and a journalist before we started recognizing everyone. I realized that we should have prepared some badges for media people. The issue with leader is different. When I asked the name of the leader, he shouted back saying to know ourselves. I felt he is not worthy to be part of Lok Satta. I expected him to be helpful instead of showing off.
JP was busy talking to media people for couple of stations. Once he became free, he asked to meet the people in train. Then we got another bash from leaders. If we do not allow any new people, what is the purpose of the trip? Hmmm, then we decided to allow ten to twenty people and tell them ahead that they have to get off the train in next station. It worked out, but I got chance to observe many personalities. Some people say they have worked hard for so many years for party and so wanted to be inside. Some people say they will do anything for JP. It is funny that however they would not do one thing of helping us. All experiences are mostly pleasant except one. One middle aged person came in along with his suitcase. He did not want to meet JP. He does not want to get down as well. He said he never bought ticket and always sought for free rides like this. He blurted several curses and disgusting comments on us. Some of them were like, "What can few of us do to better our country?", "It is doomed and corrupted everywhere. You are not practical." and "If you can not tolerate single person like me, how can you manage thousands of people over there?". We decided to ignore him since it is just wastage of time and there is no civil way to act. Without any shame, he stayed all the way till he reaches his destination.
Next problem is that people allowed inside train did not follow any queue and all gathered around JP. We did not use tokens, but we followed similar way, seating new people in volunteers seats, calling people one by one to meet JP. When there are more people and less time between stations, Dr. JP was asked to come and meet with every one at once.
I took mike and announced all leaders and media to sit in their designated seats and the rest of the volunteers and supporters to move backside of the train. With the help of Govind and Balaji, we called all the volunteers opted yesterday to come in and sit in designated seats for volunteers. Ratnam garu was vouching for several volunteers he knew, but I did not allow to avoid any problems. Around five people who are supposed to come did not come. We decided to allow five more people. Still there are twenty additional people in train. I listed out activities and responsibilities and people are welcome only if they are willing to do. We started requesting other people to go to next bogey and come to Nellore, if they really like Lok Satta. We selected only ten people including few friends of Ratnam garu. Among the people allowed, some turned out to be lazy and did not help at all in further journey. However some people really helped. I had to write about Bhaskar, one of one of the people allowed in last minute. I liked his work in the train journey. I had worked with him later on several occasions.
It did not end there. Throughout the train journey people wanted to come and travel with JP. This became nightmare. We decided to not allow any new people and assigned Balaji to be at entrance all the time. First problem is to identify the people who are in train. Most leaders and media get out at every station and rush back. It took one bashing from a leader and a journalist before we started recognizing everyone. I realized that we should have prepared some badges for media people. The issue with leader is different. When I asked the name of the leader, he shouted back saying to know ourselves. I felt he is not worthy to be part of Lok Satta. I expected him to be helpful instead of showing off.
JP was busy talking to media people for couple of stations. Once he became free, he asked to meet the people in train. Then we got another bash from leaders. If we do not allow any new people, what is the purpose of the trip? Hmmm, then we decided to allow ten to twenty people and tell them ahead that they have to get off the train in next station. It worked out, but I got chance to observe many personalities. Some people say they have worked hard for so many years for party and so wanted to be inside. Some people say they will do anything for JP. It is funny that however they would not do one thing of helping us. All experiences are mostly pleasant except one. One middle aged person came in along with his suitcase. He did not want to meet JP. He does not want to get down as well. He said he never bought ticket and always sought for free rides like this. He blurted several curses and disgusting comments on us. Some of them were like, "What can few of us do to better our country?", "It is doomed and corrupted everywhere. You are not practical." and "If you can not tolerate single person like me, how can you manage thousands of people over there?". We decided to ignore him since it is just wastage of time and there is no civil way to act. Without any shame, he stayed all the way till he reaches his destination.
Next problem is that people allowed inside train did not follow any queue and all gathered around JP. We did not use tokens, but we followed similar way, seating new people in volunteers seats, calling people one by one to meet JP. When there are more people and less time between stations, Dr. JP was asked to come and meet with every one at once.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Night before journey - changing plans every hour
Our plans changed from A to D in sequence like below.
Plan A: We were supposed to get box to us by 2:00 PM before the journey day and so we can decorate the train. For some reason or other, station master did not handover it. There were so many reasons. Balaji, me and Kiran garu already have decided the content on the posters. Vardhini garu from Lok Satta media department made templates in adobe photo shop for us. We do not know the dimensions of the box we are going to get, and so did not order yet. There were two kinds of boxes. We are also not sure whether we are going to get last bogey. Govind, Balaji, Devi Prasad, Ramesh and me went to train station around 3PM to get idea of different boxes so that we can make posters that can fit on any train. We took a scale with us and measured dimensions of bogey and windows. We drew layout of posters and their sizes. We called poster makers that work with Lok Satta office who are sympathetic to party and give better deals.
Plan B: We had volunteers meet at 6PM. Original plan was that few of us could go to station after the meet and decorate train. According to new plan, Balaji collects posters and go to station. Kiran garu goes to station and talks to station master in getting train. He would call us as soon as he gets it. Ratnam and few more of us would wait at office for his call and bring pamphlets, material and other posters. Praddep and Govind would come to station around 12PM and sleep in train after decoration.
I was checking my list for any missing things or any other things we need to cover. I wrote down phone numbers of all volunteers and collected few other trusted people's names for backup plans. I thought of three new things that I missed earlier.
- Artists or singers for entertainment in train. Ratnam garu took it and told that he would call two of his drummer and singer friends.
- Water and snacks. Called Purna garu who is making media and food arrangements. He lives nearby my house and so he suggested he would buy some fruits and snacks and we two could take them in the morning.
- Seating arrangement in train. Subbu and me opened a doc and prepared pages like "Volunteers", "Media", "JP's desk" and "Mahila Satta" and took printouts. Subbu was not coming tomorrow, but he noticed our anxiety and was nice enough to stay awake all night and help me.
We keep hearing so many reasons and updates from station master, train did not reach, platform is not decided, you need approval, we can only give four hours before journey etc. It became 2AM. All of our parents kept calling. Mogulaih garu and others were also working at office doing their own work like preparing JP's return journey, collecting some material JP asked them etc. Balaji did not get posters yet, as they need to be dried.
Plan C:Kiran garu told that he would get train only at 4:30 AM and asked us to come at that time. So we changed plans again. Kiran garu, Balaji and other people sleep at his house, as it is near to station. Subbu and me would go to my house and come to station directly in the monring along with Purna garu. Then we realized that media room people locked and left for the day without keeping needed manuals and material outside. They keep it locked since it involves money and they need accounting. We found small sunroof kind of thing for that room and had to climb a wall with great difficulty to get our bags out. Since we have lot of things to take station (posters, material, flags etc.), it does not make sense to take all of them to my house and bringing back in morning.
Plan D: Subbu and me reached my house at 3 A.M. and went to bed as soon as we could. By the time I got little sleep, it was 4:30 A.M. and my mother woke us up and also alarm started ringing. We called Purna garu and picked him and his luggage at Yousuf guda, reached office, collected all material, picked cameraman Sanjeev and his equipment and reached station. We were able to reach station around 5:30 in two autos. People were already waiting for us for material. Some people took ugly gum in their hands, some took job of unwrapping posters and some people tied the flags. I was monitoring everything so that decoration and layout on both sides of train look exactly similar. We were able to complete by 6 A.M. and we were sweating though it was cool weather. Exactly at the moment, we started hearing "Lok Satta Zindabad" and around 500 people led by several leaders like Katari garu and M.L.A. hopefuls were entering station to give Dr. JP farewell.
Plan A: We were supposed to get box to us by 2:00 PM before the journey day and so we can decorate the train. For some reason or other, station master did not handover it. There were so many reasons. Balaji, me and Kiran garu already have decided the content on the posters. Vardhini garu from Lok Satta media department made templates in adobe photo shop for us. We do not know the dimensions of the box we are going to get, and so did not order yet. There were two kinds of boxes. We are also not sure whether we are going to get last bogey. Govind, Balaji, Devi Prasad, Ramesh and me went to train station around 3PM to get idea of different boxes so that we can make posters that can fit on any train. We took a scale with us and measured dimensions of bogey and windows. We drew layout of posters and their sizes. We called poster makers that work with Lok Satta office who are sympathetic to party and give better deals.
Plan B: We had volunteers meet at 6PM. Original plan was that few of us could go to station after the meet and decorate train. According to new plan, Balaji collects posters and go to station. Kiran garu goes to station and talks to station master in getting train. He would call us as soon as he gets it. Ratnam and few more of us would wait at office for his call and bring pamphlets, material and other posters. Praddep and Govind would come to station around 12PM and sleep in train after decoration.
I was checking my list for any missing things or any other things we need to cover. I wrote down phone numbers of all volunteers and collected few other trusted people's names for backup plans. I thought of three new things that I missed earlier.
- Artists or singers for entertainment in train. Ratnam garu took it and told that he would call two of his drummer and singer friends.
- Water and snacks. Called Purna garu who is making media and food arrangements. He lives nearby my house and so he suggested he would buy some fruits and snacks and we two could take them in the morning.
- Seating arrangement in train. Subbu and me opened a doc and prepared pages like "Volunteers", "Media", "JP's desk" and "Mahila Satta" and took printouts. Subbu was not coming tomorrow, but he noticed our anxiety and was nice enough to stay awake all night and help me.
We keep hearing so many reasons and updates from station master, train did not reach, platform is not decided, you need approval, we can only give four hours before journey etc. It became 2AM. All of our parents kept calling. Mogulaih garu and others were also working at office doing their own work like preparing JP's return journey, collecting some material JP asked them etc. Balaji did not get posters yet, as they need to be dried.
Plan C:Kiran garu told that he would get train only at 4:30 AM and asked us to come at that time. So we changed plans again. Kiran garu, Balaji and other people sleep at his house, as it is near to station. Subbu and me would go to my house and come to station directly in the monring along with Purna garu. Then we realized that media room people locked and left for the day without keeping needed manuals and material outside. They keep it locked since it involves money and they need accounting. We found small sunroof kind of thing for that room and had to climb a wall with great difficulty to get our bags out. Since we have lot of things to take station (posters, material, flags etc.), it does not make sense to take all of them to my house and bringing back in morning.
Plan D: Subbu and me reached my house at 3 A.M. and went to bed as soon as we could. By the time I got little sleep, it was 4:30 A.M. and my mother woke us up and also alarm started ringing. We called Purna garu and picked him and his luggage at Yousuf guda, reached office, collected all material, picked cameraman Sanjeev and his equipment and reached station. We were able to reach station around 5:30 in two autos. People were already waiting for us for material. Some people took ugly gum in their hands, some took job of unwrapping posters and some people tied the flags. I was monitoring everything so that decoration and layout on both sides of train look exactly similar. We were able to complete by 6 A.M. and we were sweating though it was cool weather. Exactly at the moment, we started hearing "Lok Satta Zindabad" and around 500 people led by several leaders like Katari garu and M.L.A. hopefuls were entering station to give Dr. JP farewell.
Volunteers meet before journey
Capacity of one box is limited. We have journalists and Lok Satta leaders coming in every stop. So Kiran garu told me to collect names of 20 volunteers who are willing to come and help during the journey. I called few volunteers and also asked them to recommend some other names. Then I came to know from Kiran garu told the same thing to Yuva Satta people. I met Yuva Satta president Ratnam garu and vice president Naveen garu in the afternoon. We decided to call a meeting with all volunteers in the evening. Around 25 people attended the meeting. Ratnam garu and me hosted the meet and explained the work and responsibility we have to bear during the trip. Bharadwaj garu came to office and reviewed our plan. He told if we can not make this successful, then there is no way Lok Satta could win. I naively but sincerely asked what success means. It includes the following
* We should have at least 200 people visiting JP in every station.
* We should not have any mishaps in organizing.
* We should have all media channels and news paper media covering us more than other parties.
I listed out all responsibilities and asked people to say their choices. After some thirty minutes, we were able to assign three to four people for each task. There are uncertainities. Will all the people came today show up tomorrow at 4.30A.M.? Some people opted to come but did not attend the meet. Lot of people showed interest in providing security to Dr. JP, other leaders and women. It was surprise to me, since it was more risky and difficult job.
* We should have at least 200 people visiting JP in every station.
* We should not have any mishaps in organizing.
* We should have all media channels and news paper media covering us more than other parties.
I listed out all responsibilities and asked people to say their choices. After some thirty minutes, we were able to assign three to four people for each task. There are uncertainities. Will all the people came today show up tomorrow at 4.30A.M.? Some people opted to come but did not attend the meet. Lot of people showed interest in providing security to Dr. JP, other leaders and women. It was surprise to me, since it was more risky and difficult job.
Planning for Train Journey
Uday is great volunteer. His work is professional. He does all the web work and so can not attend the train journey. He is actually needed to be in office for prepare briefings for web site and also to media throughout the day. Subbu is the one who was assigned all the people and communication work. For some reason, Subbu is not interested to attend Rail yatra. So it fell on me and Balaji. Balaji also started coming to party office only for the last two days. He is also very enthusiastic.
Subbu told he would be tired to go on tour and he could do some other work if I could take care of the rest of planning and organize the event. I accepted it with more than willingness. I asked Subbu's experience from youth meet he organized in previous week. Among the things he told, most of them are not related to this event. One thing that stuck is to write up plan like agenda, events, peoples and responsibilities. I looked at his event plan and so thought that is good start.
I listed out the responsibilities of volunteers like
* Before the tour: finalizing tickets, decoration, posters, planning events, assigning responsibilities.
* During the event: Attending, security, finalizing assignments, monitoring etc.
* After the event: Return journey, handing over expense to party office.
I came up with around 10 teams needed during journey.
* Food collectors
* Food and water distributors
* Fund raisers.
* Material managers.
* Pamphlet distributors
* Pollsters and surveyors
* Number crunchers: They count people in the train all the time and keep track who is missing.
* Swat team: lighter name for security team
* Fort protectors: They have to stay in train all the time and so miss out fun.
* Artists: singers, drummers etc.
* Dialers: They call the leaders of the next station and update them on the status.
* Coordinators who take decisions on plan changes and others have to listen to them since we do not want multitude of opinions when action is needed.
Before journey: preparing posters, buying tickets, decorating the train. Kiran garu, Balaji and me decided to work on this and call all the volunteers one day before the journey and request some people to help for decoration.
After train journey: I volunteered to pay myself and reimburse after journey, since we do not even have finalized names of all the people coming. However Kiran garu and Moguliah garu would make travel arrangements for Dr. JP, other leaders, women and journalists.
Subbu told he would be tired to go on tour and he could do some other work if I could take care of the rest of planning and organize the event. I accepted it with more than willingness. I asked Subbu's experience from youth meet he organized in previous week. Among the things he told, most of them are not related to this event. One thing that stuck is to write up plan like agenda, events, peoples and responsibilities. I looked at his event plan and so thought that is good start.
I listed out the responsibilities of volunteers like
* Before the tour: finalizing tickets, decoration, posters, planning events, assigning responsibilities.
* During the event: Attending, security, finalizing assignments, monitoring etc.
* After the event: Return journey, handing over expense to party office.
I came up with around 10 teams needed during journey.
* Food collectors
* Food and water distributors
* Fund raisers.
* Material managers.
* Pamphlet distributors
* Pollsters and surveyors
* Number crunchers: They count people in the train all the time and keep track who is missing.
* Swat team: lighter name for security team
* Fort protectors: They have to stay in train all the time and so miss out fun.
* Artists: singers, drummers etc.
* Dialers: They call the leaders of the next station and update them on the status.
* Coordinators who take decisions on plan changes and others have to listen to them since we do not want multitude of opinions when action is needed.
Before journey: preparing posters, buying tickets, decorating the train. Kiran garu, Balaji and me decided to work on this and call all the volunteers one day before the journey and request some people to help for decoration.
After train journey: I volunteered to pay myself and reimburse after journey, since we do not even have finalized names of all the people coming. However Kiran garu and Moguliah garu would make travel arrangements for Dr. JP, other leaders, women and journalists.
Lok Satta army
Mr. Karthick gave list of star volunteer names to call for hmtv shooting. He gave me one or two names from each area so that we cover most of the Hyderabad. HMTV journalist Naresh called me in the morning and told that he got approval from their C.E.O (My translation is not right. Is that what they call owner of channel?) and he would come around 11A.M. Around 20 people attended, but here are the names of few people I still remember.
* Anil
* Aziz
* Devi Prasad
* Mrs. Fathima
* Govind
* Mutyala Samy
* Ramesh
* Mrs. Renuka
* Santosh
* Subramanyam
* Uday
* Venkat Reddy
I have to mention the names of three other volunteers.
* Ramakrisha: He told that he would loose one day in campaigning and so would not be able to attend. He was volunteering in kukatpally.
* Mrs. Vrunda: She told the same. She was volunteering for L.B.Nagar.
* Amar: He filed application for Mulkajgiri. We told him he could attend only if his selection would be finalized and he was not M.L.A. candidate.
I was impressed by the responses from each of the above.
* Anil
* Aziz
* Devi Prasad
* Mrs. Fathima
* Govind
* Mutyala Samy
* Ramesh
* Mrs. Renuka
* Santosh
* Subramanyam
* Uday
* Venkat Reddy
I have to mention the names of three other volunteers.
* Ramakrisha: He told that he would loose one day in campaigning and so would not be able to attend. He was volunteering in kukatpally.
* Mrs. Vrunda: She told the same. She was volunteering for L.B.Nagar.
* Amar: He filed application for Mulkajgiri. We told him he could attend only if his selection would be finalized and he was not M.L.A. candidate.
I was impressed by the responses from each of the above.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Media coverage
There will be one journalist or other all the time at Lok Satta party office. They also talk to people visiting the office. They record lot of things, but coverage on Lok Satta party is very minimal. It is mostly because of editors thinking that coverage on Lok Satta is not important.
Some of them told me they are Lok Satta supporters as soon as they take out their uniform. They observe all parties, and find Lok Satta as the best party among them. Some reporters happened to talk to me and wondered why I came all the way from across the world. They took bites from me. TV9 reporter came next day and told they showed it on TV. HMTV Naresh garu told that he wanted to do a Sunday special on Lok Satta volunteers and so would call us back.
Some of them told me they are Lok Satta supporters as soon as they take out their uniform. They observe all parties, and find Lok Satta as the best party among them. Some reporters happened to talk to me and wondered why I came all the way from across the world. They took bites from me. TV9 reporter came next day and told they showed it on TV. HMTV Naresh garu told that he wanted to do a Sunday special on Lok Satta volunteers and so would call us back.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Patan Cheruvu primaries
Party organizes regular press meets during afternoons in the downstairs hall. My first press meet was special one, where Dr. JP announced Patan Cheruvu primaries results.
For the first time in India’s Parliamentary history, Lok Satta party conducted primary election between two candidates in the race for the party ticket to contest from Patancheru Assembly constituency. Satish Goud won with some 900 votes majority. Leaders on stage went on to discuss party's agenda. I felt Satish Goud would have been given chance to speak to media.
JP criticized populist schemes of other parties. One of the journalists asked opinion on comments of the leaders of some other parties. Dr. JP asked the journalists to know 'which party was right and is right agenda and support instead of supporting parties and which are bribing people with liquor and other schemes'. He asked them to start discussion on issues rather than the sensational news. He also asked them why did not media cover his Vizag trip happened in last week where 10 thousand people attended on their own, while they covered other functions.
For the first time in India’s Parliamentary history, Lok Satta party conducted primary election between two candidates in the race for the party ticket to contest from Patancheru Assembly constituency. Satish Goud won with some 900 votes majority. Leaders on stage went on to discuss party's agenda. I felt Satish Goud would have been given chance to speak to media.
JP criticized populist schemes of other parties. One of the journalists asked opinion on comments of the leaders of some other parties. Dr. JP asked the journalists to know 'which party was right and is right agenda and support instead of supporting parties and which are bribing people with liquor and other schemes'. He asked them to start discussion on issues rather than the sensational news. He also asked them why did not media cover his Vizag trip happened in last week where 10 thousand people attended on their own, while they covered other functions.
My first contributions
Several volunteers come to Lok Satta office and work for few days and they go back to their regular life. Anil is one such volunteer. He has skills and lot of patience. He is in job search. Today I worked with him in converting several dvds to mp4s lying around the office and uploading to youtube. We also did several quality improvements like adding descriptions and other analytical tags. Balaji, a new volunteer came to office. He has been preparing for civils. Subbu and he started working on a project to explain taxes and money flow to common people.
In the afternoon, Karthick asked to help Uday in migrating website from old web hosting company. Existing website managers were not responsive to Lok Satta users and office requests. They were feeling like they were spending way more time for party website for very minimal payment(!). So Krishnaprasad garu allocated some of his staff to develop new website for Loksatta. Uday was filling the information in templates and also doing layout modifications. We wrote text for several webpages including donation page.
In the afternoon, Karthick asked to help Uday in migrating website from old web hosting company. Existing website managers were not responsive to Lok Satta users and office requests. They were feeling like they were spending way more time for party website for very minimal payment(!). So Krishnaprasad garu allocated some of his staff to develop new website for Loksatta. Uday was filling the information in templates and also doing layout modifications. We wrote text for several webpages including donation page.
Monday, March 16, 2009
My first party meeting - Rail yatra
Kiran garu took me to a conference room around 6 P.M. It is the only dedicated conference room at office. It can hardly fit 20 people, but it is maintained well and clean. I noticed that that room also serves as overflow room for the people waiting in Lobby. Dr. JP went somewhere else and so crowd left too by evening.
There I met Gangadhar garu, another great peronality. He was the person who worked hard for organizing Patan Cheruvu primaries. The meeting was about planning for Lok Satta rail yatra. They were sitting on the idea for last three days. Gangadhar garu was proposing Dr. JP and others should not reserve bogey and buy general tickets and mingle with people. Kiran garu was proposing that we should reserve a bogey for health and also security reasons. I sided with Kiran garu and that irked Gangadhar garu. He himself communicated to me later when we became friends. I should kept quiet in that first meeting. Some of the goals of the trip were to cover maxinum area and many districts and have some public meeting at the end of yatra.
So Krishna express looked like the best choice.
* It goes through many districts, Warangal, Nalgonda, Krishna, Ongole, Nellore etc.
* It has tens of stops.
* Passengers are middle class people. We can book bogey but can also walk in other boxes.
* Nellore leader Sridhar garu was inviting JP for long time, and is suitable for public speech.
There I met Gangadhar garu, another great peronality. He was the person who worked hard for organizing Patan Cheruvu primaries. The meeting was about planning for Lok Satta rail yatra. They were sitting on the idea for last three days. Gangadhar garu was proposing Dr. JP and others should not reserve bogey and buy general tickets and mingle with people. Kiran garu was proposing that we should reserve a bogey for health and also security reasons. I sided with Kiran garu and that irked Gangadhar garu. He himself communicated to me later when we became friends. I should kept quiet in that first meeting. Some of the goals of the trip were to cover maxinum area and many districts and have some public meeting at the end of yatra.
So Krishna express looked like the best choice.
* It goes through many districts, Warangal, Nalgonda, Krishna, Ongole, Nellore etc.
* It has tens of stops.
* Passengers are middle class people. We can book bogey but can also walk in other boxes.
* Nellore leader Sridhar garu was inviting JP for long time, and is suitable for public speech.
First day at Lok Satta office
Around 11 A.M., I went to Lok Satta office and asked for Karthick Chandra at reception. Karthick manages entire backend and office activities. I had communicated with him over emails in the past.
Karthick garu(!) welcomed me warmly and asked me to wait, as he has some meeting to attend. He sent Uday to give me company after 10 minutes. Mr. Karthick later introduced me to many people at office. I met many people with whom I had interacted at one point of time or other.
Mr. Uday: Lok Satta you tube and web problems.
Mr. Subbu: Lok Satta call center and communication.
Mr. Mouli: One of the reliable secretary of Dr. JP.
Mr. Ganesh: Finance co-ordination.
I told about my volunteering plans preferably in my home town. I met few other people at Lunch. I was feeling little shy and one person approached me and introduced himself. Later I came to know his background. Ramu garu is one of the Lok Satta executive board members. He is very active but simple person.
Dr. JP's office and lobby were fully crowded all the day. I did not know that he was accessible to people like this. I finally got opportunity to meet Dr. JP at 4PM. I explained him my background and plan for a minute. He asked me what I wanted to do. I proposed two things, a. Campaign management in Nellore or b. touring along with artists and singers spreading Lok Satta. He told that we need more help in hyd and main office itself, since most active volunteers were working now in other constituencies. Overall I spent less than five minutes with JP garu, as there were other people waiting for him.
Dr. JP called Kiran garu and asked him to guide me and use my help. Kiran Kumar was like campaign manager from head office. He is an engineer and some small scale enterpriser. He took time off for few months and have been helping in Lok Satta activities.
Karthick garu(!) welcomed me warmly and asked me to wait, as he has some meeting to attend. He sent Uday to give me company after 10 minutes. Mr. Karthick later introduced me to many people at office. I met many people with whom I had interacted at one point of time or other.
Mr. Uday: Lok Satta you tube and web problems.
Mr. Subbu: Lok Satta call center and communication.
Mr. Mouli: One of the reliable secretary of Dr. JP.
Mr. Ganesh: Finance co-ordination.
I told about my volunteering plans preferably in my home town. I met few other people at Lunch. I was feeling little shy and one person approached me and introduced himself. Later I came to know his background. Ramu garu is one of the Lok Satta executive board members. He is very active but simple person.
Dr. JP's office and lobby were fully crowded all the day. I did not know that he was accessible to people like this. I finally got opportunity to meet Dr. JP at 4PM. I explained him my background and plan for a minute. He asked me what I wanted to do. I proposed two things, a. Campaign management in Nellore or b. touring along with artists and singers spreading Lok Satta. He told that we need more help in hyd and main office itself, since most active volunteers were working now in other constituencies. Overall I spent less than five minutes with JP garu, as there were other people waiting for him.
Dr. JP called Kiran garu and asked him to guide me and use my help. Kiran Kumar was like campaign manager from head office. He is an engineer and some small scale enterpriser. He took time off for few months and have been helping in Lok Satta activities.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
My India Trip
I have been debating for a month whether I should go to India for campaigning for Lok Satta party. I am not really well settled and I live on salary. My family does not like my association with any political cause. I am just inches away from my promotion. I have recently moved to new project. I also talked to one Lok satta leader, and he discouraged me with some valid reasons. What impact you could create and who will listen to you? Perhaps you could donate that money equivalent to your travelling expenses and may be we could win one seat etc.
Yet I made a call to take break for two months. I convinced my family by saying if Dr. JP can work for more than ten years for society, why can not I spend a month or two for noble cause. I noticed several people talking online but not volunteering or donating in the time of the need. I could motivate at least few of them to come to field by being an example. I can at least silence the people who criticize. Moreover my company is one of the best companies. If I can not afford time off, how can I expect other people take action in this bad economy? There is also pride and fun factor in volunteering for Lok Satta.
Yet I made a call to take break for two months. I convinced my family by saying if Dr. JP can work for more than ten years for society, why can not I spend a month or two for noble cause. I noticed several people talking online but not volunteering or donating in the time of the need. I could motivate at least few of them to come to field by being an example. I can at least silence the people who criticize. Moreover my company is one of the best companies. If I can not afford time off, how can I expect other people take action in this bad economy? There is also pride and fun factor in volunteering for Lok Satta.
Why do I support Lok Satta?
Lok Satta raised my hope for better India and my respect towards politics. There are many reasons why I support Lok Satta party.
I am blessed with good education, status and secure job, yet I am not fully happy. I remember many friends and colleagues who were at my level at some point of time but did not move up. People dropped because of lot of reasons like caste, money, family, location, gender and lack of oppurtunities. So I feel it is not just my efforts that mattered, but also some stroke of luck at every stage of my life mattered. I have one wish on my list. When will we reach a stage where any one regardless of their background can move up as long as they want to? Why are we not giving kids opportunities just because they did not make one entrance examination at one time in their life? Why is it impossible, if someone realizes late in their life and gets chance to utilize their potential later? Do they have to live rest of their life with nominal salary and inconvenience. Well, there is way to succeed. That is back door lobbying and corrupted businesses.
After coming to U.S., I could not stop but notice the reasons why America is ahead of India or any other country. I started hearing hope, freedom, fair laws, institutions, innovation, mixture of capitalism and socialism etc. However there are only two reasons why all of these are possible, democracy in full form and decentralization. Like many other professionals, I became busy with my work and life. Years passed. When Chiru started party, I started observing Indian politics with some lean hope. He was being my favorite hero during my school days. I even signed an NRI petition supporting Chiru. One day I suddenly came to know about Lok Satta party. Every thing I thought of good for India has been proposed by Lok Satta. That is how my association with Lok Satta started.
Lok Satta is only party that has agenda. Lok Satta has good leaders like JP. I read bunch of party documents and watched videos. JP speech at Mumbai was one of them which raised my hopes. These are not what atrracted me. Agenda changes over time and based on soceital needs. Leaders go and come. However internal democracy and decentralization are crucial. I decided to support party that has principles which would have been the same if I had started party myself rather than supporting my matinee idol.
I am blessed with good education, status and secure job, yet I am not fully happy. I remember many friends and colleagues who were at my level at some point of time but did not move up. People dropped because of lot of reasons like caste, money, family, location, gender and lack of oppurtunities. So I feel it is not just my efforts that mattered, but also some stroke of luck at every stage of my life mattered. I have one wish on my list. When will we reach a stage where any one regardless of their background can move up as long as they want to? Why are we not giving kids opportunities just because they did not make one entrance examination at one time in their life? Why is it impossible, if someone realizes late in their life and gets chance to utilize their potential later? Do they have to live rest of their life with nominal salary and inconvenience. Well, there is way to succeed. That is back door lobbying and corrupted businesses.
After coming to U.S., I could not stop but notice the reasons why America is ahead of India or any other country. I started hearing hope, freedom, fair laws, institutions, innovation, mixture of capitalism and socialism etc. However there are only two reasons why all of these are possible, democracy in full form and decentralization. Like many other professionals, I became busy with my work and life. Years passed. When Chiru started party, I started observing Indian politics with some lean hope. He was being my favorite hero during my school days. I even signed an NRI petition supporting Chiru. One day I suddenly came to know about Lok Satta party. Every thing I thought of good for India has been proposed by Lok Satta. That is how my association with Lok Satta started.
Lok Satta is only party that has agenda. Lok Satta has good leaders like JP. I read bunch of party documents and watched videos. JP speech at Mumbai was one of them which raised my hopes. These are not what atrracted me. Agenda changes over time and based on soceital needs. Leaders go and come. However internal democracy and decentralization are crucial. I decided to support party that has principles which would have been the same if I had started party myself rather than supporting my matinee idol.
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