Is Anna Hazare the Gandhi of our times? This question pops up time and again, as now after his endorsement of the much-reviled slap on Sharad Pawar’s face.
There are many facets to Anna, most of which cannot fit into the convenient rave-or-rant formula drawn up by the media. He’s never called himself the second Gandhi but has in fact declared he does not deserve to ‘even sit at Gandhiji’s feet.’ He does follow Gandhiji but if required, he has said he can become a Shivaji or a Bhagat Singh.
So, while we cannot impose Gandhidom on him, much as we want to, Anna shares some qualities with Gandhiji. He is disciplined, patient, austere, stubborn, has simple food, is wholly into causes, plunging body and soul into them. He is simple, direct and honest.
Like his idol, Anna goes by his gut. His gut, unpredictable as it is, is what makes him swing radically at times, baffling his supporters. His take is: ‘If taking a step backward helps us to go forward, why let ego get in the way?’
Anna also trusts too easily. Unlike Gandhiji and for a man with such exposure to public life, he can be rather naive. But largely, he is focussed. Babus and ministers often hope to divert his attention in their meetings but Anna throws it at them after a point: ‘Yaancha kai?’ (What about this?) and insists on a timeline for all promises.
Most importantly, his heart is in the villages. His core organisation, Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan, which took a backseat during his national campaign against corruption, works at the grassroots level and runs primarily on member contributions. Only those with a visible presence in public work are eligible to become members.
This is, in fact, one of the friction points between Anna’s NGO and his new friends in Delhi, branded as Team Anna. Many in Maharashtra resent the Delhi activists’ domination on the ground that they don’t have rigorous exposure to public life and are quintessentially urban. But it is his Delhi friends who have catapulted him to the national stage and made him larger-than-life even as the media in his home state pours scorn on him.
Just as fears of the Congress limiting Gandhiji were voiced till the Mahatma smoothly took over the Congress, Anna’s supporters fear he is being used by Team Anna. But, though Anna can get carried away, he thinks independently. Sitting in the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi, Anna listens to everyone patiently, and then makes his notes at night, sometimes for hours. That’s his me-time when the churning happens.
When Anna announced his campaign to oppose the Congress in UP, he did it without consulting ‘Team Anna’. It was a unilateral decision that they scurried to follow. Just as it was he who worked out the parliamentary resolution idea to break the impasse during his August fast.
Anna can put his foot down when required. He did that last week by telling Arvind Kejriwal to drop the idea of having a public meeting in Nashik. The BVJA, he was told, has a considerable presence in Maharashtra. Kejriwal was asked to take his campaign to other states where India Against Corruption needs to grow roots. He may be nowhere near the Mahatma as he says but he is among a few who come closest in our times.
There are many facets to Anna, most of which cannot fit into the convenient rave-or-rant formula drawn up by the media. He’s never called himself the second Gandhi but has in fact declared he does not deserve to ‘even sit at Gandhiji’s feet.’ He does follow Gandhiji but if required, he has said he can become a Shivaji or a Bhagat Singh.
So, while we cannot impose Gandhidom on him, much as we want to, Anna shares some qualities with Gandhiji. He is disciplined, patient, austere, stubborn, has simple food, is wholly into causes, plunging body and soul into them. He is simple, direct and honest.
Like his idol, Anna goes by his gut. His gut, unpredictable as it is, is what makes him swing radically at times, baffling his supporters. His take is: ‘If taking a step backward helps us to go forward, why let ego get in the way?’
Anna also trusts too easily. Unlike Gandhiji and for a man with such exposure to public life, he can be rather naive. But largely, he is focussed. Babus and ministers often hope to divert his attention in their meetings but Anna throws it at them after a point: ‘Yaancha kai?’ (What about this?) and insists on a timeline for all promises.
Most importantly, his heart is in the villages. His core organisation, Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan, which took a backseat during his national campaign against corruption, works at the grassroots level and runs primarily on member contributions. Only those with a visible presence in public work are eligible to become members.
This is, in fact, one of the friction points between Anna’s NGO and his new friends in Delhi, branded as Team Anna. Many in Maharashtra resent the Delhi activists’ domination on the ground that they don’t have rigorous exposure to public life and are quintessentially urban. But it is his Delhi friends who have catapulted him to the national stage and made him larger-than-life even as the media in his home state pours scorn on him.
Just as fears of the Congress limiting Gandhiji were voiced till the Mahatma smoothly took over the Congress, Anna’s supporters fear he is being used by Team Anna. But, though Anna can get carried away, he thinks independently. Sitting in the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi, Anna listens to everyone patiently, and then makes his notes at night, sometimes for hours. That’s his me-time when the churning happens.
When Anna announced his campaign to oppose the Congress in UP, he did it without consulting ‘Team Anna’. It was a unilateral decision that they scurried to follow. Just as it was he who worked out the parliamentary resolution idea to break the impasse during his August fast.
Anna can put his foot down when required. He did that last week by telling Arvind Kejriwal to drop the idea of having a public meeting in Nashik. The BVJA, he was told, has a considerable presence in Maharashtra. Kejriwal was asked to take his campaign to other states where India Against Corruption needs to grow roots. He may be nowhere near the Mahatma as he says but he is among a few who come closest in our times.
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