The crusade of the crusaders

The current scenario in the country makes one sad. After all what is the fault of Baba Ramdeo that has made him undergo an experience so painful. First being pampered and then being kicked, by the establishment, just because he stood up for truth, and also commands a very strong fan following. If it was just truth, none would have bothered, but what created fear is the following. What appears from the media reports is that he has been hurt mentally, more than physically. Anna Hazare, another crusader also has to often face what one can term as, disrespect to a pure soul, and that is because he comes out as a genuine crusader for probity in public life who has also acquired a larger than life image in the nation.

The crusade to cleanse the society of its ills is a tough call that cannot be fully appreciated by most of us, even armchair crusaders like me. That a crusader would have to face ignominy and his life shall be tough, sometimes even to the point of extinction is almost guaranteed and yet he crusades. A trial by fire is what all crusaders have to face and that is the real truth of their lives. And that is why crusaders like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdeo are rare commodities. Perhaps if one searches around with a magnifying glass, not more than one crusader from amongst a millian Indians would be found.

Yet, these crusaders give us hope, a hope that all is not yet lost and the nation can still be redeemed. A hope that in this nation of people with jelly like spine who are prepared to accept gross injustice at the hands of a few, there are still a few men who have the courage to stand up, even to the might of the empire, for the cause of what all of us secretly desire in our hearts, evolution of a just and equitable society.

And that is reason enough to live and rejoice!