Fasting from a foreign land

Many people ask me why I am fasting just because Anna Hazare is fasting in India. The answer is both philosophical and practical. In a philosophical way, I for one, cannot be at ease knowing that someone is suffering on m behalf, that someone is going through a  lot of hardship so the future of my family sees as little hardship as possible. The man is fighting for a great cause. I believe in his cause. I also believe that he, at 74, is fasting for 14 days, for you and for me and for every Indian on earth. I cannot carry the burden of that knowledge and eat good food daily. Tomorrow when something positive comes out of this saga, I wont be able to get out on to the streets grinning ear to ear and enjoying the fruits of his hard work, knowing that I never as much as raised a finger to help him.

Now for those who ask how is me fasting tantamount to raising a finger to help the man, the practical explanation follows. Such bold uprisings if not backed by mass, would fail. The government of India is a powerful entity. Especially when it is on the back foot like how the Congress now is. Ever seen how boxers simply flail their arms in despair when they are cornered? That is what a government will do when given a couple of hard punches and when its back touches the ropes. The only weapon that we the people can launch, is mass support - by way of public gatherings, peaceful marches etc. Now, such demonstrations would help very little when done in a foreign country unless the word spreads around back to India. So a group of us are participating not only in marches and demonstrations in the USA and other countries, but also directly participating in the fast itself. The news of such actions go back to India through the media and when they get reported out, serve as an additional couple of jabs to the government, if not a knock-out punch. Also, and perhaps more importantly, Anna's place is a very lonely place. He might be surrounded with thousands of supporters, but very few are participating in the fast with him. True, he is a veteran of more than a dozen fasts, but people supporting him directly by sharing this activity will ease a little of the pain. That is how, in my eyes at least, the fasts undertaken by people in Chennai, Bangalore, and other places in India are going to help him, by adding that extra bit of energy to his spirit.

Now, this all might look more than a tad indirect of a cause and effect relationship, but I just wrote what came to my mind, rather than meticulously try to construct arguments to justify fasting. Bottom-line is I believe in it. I will fast till evening, once in three days, till Anna Hazare does. And you are welcome to join too! Power to the movement! Darkness to corruption!