The hassles of our routine life begin right away when we switch on the ignition of our vehicle to reach our work place. As if too much of incessant jams throughout the journey and an ever-increasing vehicle numbers in cities (no specifics) were not enough, we are now faced with dharnas … or so to say morcha in “khalis” Hindi by political outfits.
They in the early hours of the day when the traffic is at its peak raise slogans block roads and tend to create mayhem and subsequently occupational hazard (for those who have got something to do at least).
One day, a dear colleague and friend of mine Prateek Sahay (Mr Enterprising Entertainer) said: in political parties aur politicians ko to shehar se kahi dur jaake apna dharna aur sammelan karma chahiye. bekaar mein itne logo ko mushkilon ka samna karna padta hai. I said, lekin yeh jayenge kahan?
arre, inke liye bhi ek alag designated jagah hona chahiye just like Pragati Maidan jahan yeh apna pradarshan kar sake. jo interested hai, attend karte rahen inke protests, etc…. aur kya!
I couldn’t stop laughing. But the very second moment I realized, he has said something very reasonable. Even brilliant!
What he said is fairly applicable and practical keeping in mind the traffic department along with Police who are needlessly bothered to keep protesters under control to maintain the sanctity of the city movement.
Now let us elaborate this further. Having a designated open land (even if within the city) would give an option to many groups to come in open and talk on serious issues. Let me elaborate what else Prateek suggested to make this idea work in a very righteous manner and to make it a profitable plan too. Some pointers:
1. the venue can be booked from a designated authority.
2. one day only one event
3. a limited number of parking options. Rest will be charged accordingly by municipal authority or private player maintaining the peripheral area so that there is cap on vehicle crowd
4. the venue is open to all; political parties, social groups, company unions and so on so forth
5. holding a protest or public meeting is free of charge but will be given on the basis of availability of venue with due permissions from Police (water canon will be there in case they suspect rallies taking violent forms)
6. those holding the rally will be responsible for cleaning up mess that they may have contributed to, and
7. we are still assessing other benefits.. (let us know if you have one to share)
This is one of the episodes that took place when I took a lift from Prateek for office and were caught in a jam due to a political rally in between. While I was trying to figure out all of his logic and the feasibility, it is also true that a Rallying Zone can well be a reality someday in future only if we have such a big chunk of land left within the city and bureaucratic set up allowing it to happen. We definitely need some of those “out of the box” ideas.
Irrespective of that fact I was impressed. “What an idea PrateekJEE,” I thought, while he was still honking at the crowd to negotiate his car. The good is - he finally succeeded in doing that.
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