Tihar Jail staff kids lend helping hand to Anna's supporters
NEW DELHI: Didi, here's water for you all." It was a boon in the sweltering heat, when a bottle of chilled water was shoved between the bars of a narrow window at the main gate of Tihar Jail to thousands of Anna supporters camping outside the jail gate. As one bottle was quickly gulped down, eager hands pushed in more water bottles.
A huge relief for those standing in the heat for hours. This group of young helpers were children of the Tihar Jail staff, eager to help and be part of the movement spearheaded by Anna. The small gesture was appreciated by hundreds of tired and thirsty protesters. "Some in the group were elderly and haven't eaten anything for hours. Small gestures like these will keep the morale high," said Geeta, one of the volunteers who had shown up outside the jail.
The children, who had just come back from school, headed straight to the main gate of the jail, where most of the protesters were waiting outside. "Homework ab raat ko karenge. Abhi yahaan Anna ko humari zarurat hai (We will do our homework at night. Right now, Anna needs us)" said 12-year-old Pushpit, while taking back an empty bottle of water that he would then run to his house and refill. The group of children, in the age-group of nine and fourteen, eager to do their bit for the movement, clamoured at the entrance of the Tihar gate, while protesters on the other side continued to chant slogans.
In a hastily-written note in Hindi, the kids scribbled - "Kyunki hum apne desh ko bhrashtachaar se mukt karaana chahte hai aur Anna Hazare ek aam aadmi hai, hum unki aawaaz ko sarkar tak pahauchana chahte hai." (Because we want to free our country of corruption and Anna is a common man, we want his protest to be heard by the government.)
These children, all students of a nearby private school, eagerly demanded being "put to work." "We want to help. We want to meet Anna. We want to join the protests but are on the other side of the gate. So please tell us what we can do," asked 13-year-old Himanshu.
These children said they had read about Anna and had been following his protest on TV. "We all want to do something too. He should not be in jail. We want to participate because he is a good person and fighting for our rights," chimed two nine-year-olds, Shweta and Neha.
Giggled some of the children, "On TV we heard the protesters saying
"Yeh andar ki baat hai, police Anna ke saath hai (This is a secret, the police supports Anna) We are also with Anna. And we will be here on Thursday as well."
