Won an important court battle today, against some very mighty and powerful people. Though on the face of it the case is connected with me as an individual, the broader issue involved was whether one looks away when the politically and bureaucratically connected force the University and the Government to break rules, especially when you just happen to be the party whose interest is directly affected. and therefore the one with the right to complain. One easy solution could have been to simply whimper and hide in the bushes to nurse the injury in silence. The other option was of course to take them head on, never mind even if one is just a simple, ordinary citizen with very very limited financial means and virtually no connections to anyone in power.I was warned by many....I remember the mid-night sms from an unknown number asking the heart patient ( I have had an angioplasty in the past) to stop playing with fire. They will crush you like you were a cockroach, some said. Others , out of concern, asked me not to stay out of home after dark. These were serious people who knew what I was taking on. Along with my childhood lawyer ( a damn good lawyer I must say) friend who took on the legal battle, we fought and won. But I must admit to being unable to sleep the previous night. What if the verdict goes against us? The implications were so drastic that I psyched myself into believing that we had already lost it. That was the only way in which I could have prepared myself for the worst, and really worst it would have been. These folks dont take any prisoners when they win. In such fights, winning is the only option. In the wee hours of the morning,I also found myself wondering why I continue to lead myself into these situations where I must repeatedly prepare myself for serious retribution? It is very draining, emotionally and takes a toll on your body. Friends too suffer in the bargain.What do I get from this? Would it not be better to compromise with these forces and live happily ever after? Do I not have enough of my own troubles, both emotionally and physically? No point in fancying oneself as a soldier fighting on the side of the good. Soldiers have one advantage: The people they are fighting for atleast support the soldiers. Here, they couldnt care less. Those in the system that one is trying best to protect will happily align themselves with whoever they think is more powerful and capable of greater patronage. I remember some very vicious emails circulating on the University email, apart from the toxic gossip. Hey guys, I am trying to help the system that you work in? So, where does one draw ones morale from? And then, when I was lost for an answer, I remembered that my grandfather went to jail trying to make bombs to blow the British out of India.When he was arrested, he was a school teacher with a respectable job and a happy family. By the time he was out, he had lost his job and a young child in the bargain.My grandmother never recovered psychologically from the trauma of both having lost a child and having to bring up a large family with very little. But as long as he lived, my grandfather could always look himself in the eye and never have to blink. I found my answer and went back to sleep.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 16:56:59 +0000
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