A Generation Awakens!

We all love to complain. The canteen’s food is pathetic, this lecture is so boring, Mumbai is so dirty, this city has gone to the dogs … these are just some of the statements all of us tend to utter. We may patronise foreign countries for their clean roads and condescendingly criticise our own city, but how many of us realise that the we ourselves are responsible for the problems that we are facing? Agreed, the Government has been slack about it, but don’t we share a responsibility, too?

It is heartening to see that a young group of students have realised this responsibility and plan to, in their small way, make a difference. These students, studying in Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Bandra, have decided that enough has been cribbed about, and it is time to do something. Along with the support of organizations like Praja and AGNI, they have decided to look at the civic problems the city faces, and possible solutions to address these problems. In order to learn more about these students’ line of action, I, Raj Lalwani, spoke to Mohit Motwani, who, with his friends, has taken this initiative.

Tell us about yourself.
We’re a group of about 15 people from Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Bandra, Mumbai. We are doing our Second Year in Engineering.

How did this idea come about?
This idea basically sprung from the discussion amongst a few of us about the civic problems that the city is facing and how a lot can be done. The crux of the matter is – all of us talk about such things, but rarely do anything. We strongly believe that the youth must take a stand on this. The fact that such problems affect each and every one of us made us want to take this up. It’s definitely worth giving a try.

What is your line of action like?
Firstly, we’ve made it a point to act as responsible citizens as much as we can. We’ve made it a point to register all complaints related to civic issues either on www.praja.org or the BMC helpline 1916. Apart from that, we’ve contacted AGNI (Action for Good Governance and Networking in India). We’re planning to form an ALM (Advanced Locality Management) around our college area. Also, we’re planning to soon form a JAAG (Joint Area Action Group) of AGNI. Also, we have spoken to Mr.Ashish Shellar, the Councilor (Elected BJP representative) for Santacruz, Khar and Bandra.

We plan to gradually extend our area of work and take up all problems from the people and try to contact the relevant authorities and seek redressal. We plan to involve a lot of student support on this eventually throughout the city. All our progress will be recorded on our Yahoo group. (find link here)

How co-operative have the authorities you have spoken to been?
The authorities we have spoken to, so far, have been very supportive and appreciative of our efforts. I would like to emphasize that the system is not as apathetic as it seems (at least on the grass root level). The civic authorities have given us a good guideline to work on. We will soon have a joint survey of the area we wish to cover with the civic authorities and then start working on it.

Do you think it's possible for a bunch of students to make a difference to a city of this magnitude?
Absolutely. However, I stress that we aim to attain a lot of student support on this issue. Our motive is really to make this movement gather momentum. Besides, we strongly believe in the statement,

“Where there is nothing to lose by trying and everything to gain if successful, by all means, try.”

What, in your opinion, is the greatest problem faced by Mumbai? What can be done about it?
“Democracy is the only form of government that allows citizens full and free expression. It bestows a power which is really quite impotent unless it is used. Of course the exercise of this power needs enlightened citizens who are driven by a sense of social responsibility.”

I believe that the greatest problem is the fact that people do not voice their opinion as one about their problems.

Even if they voice their opinion, they do it individually or in small groups. It is imperative for us to be united on this issue.

How do you plan to balance your venture with academics?
We realize that our academics are of utmost priority. However, we plan to do this in the spare time that we have. Also, we’ll do it collectively as a group of friends which will make it fun at the same time. As I said earlier, we plan to get more of the youth to participate in this. So, the work will be split amongst a lot of us.

How do you plan to get the media involved in this? Any comments on whether the media has done anything substantial in this regard, whether they have shown the responsibility they ought to?
While the media does try its bit to point out all the flaws in the system, and all the problems especially relating to corruption have been highlighted by the media, I feel a lot more can be done. The media has the power to reach out to the masses on a large scale. This blog has given us a voice. We have also spoken to Mid-Day, who are going to cover us in their Metro section on 3^rd March, 2006.

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Radiculture says - A kudos to them, and here’s hoping that these students, true to our blog’s motto, not only make a difference, but also be one. I wonder if Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has any copyright to this phrase, but if more people come forward with something similar to what these students have set out to do, ‘A generation awakens’ can be the new mantra towards a better future.