I have taken a step : Youth Congress

I am no different than those youth,who at 23, are bursting with the thought that world can be theirs and they can make a great difference.In my case, that world is confined to India.Long Long ago,before I was a youth I felt that I can be the prime minister of India ..i remember,back then in 3rd i even wrote a composition 'If I were a PM' and had got the spelling of 'discrimination' wrong :)

Things Changed and ..'I started understanding !'

The first thing,as a small girl I understood that to be a PM one had to join politics and I understood that Politics isnt a career for a fresher unlike doctor or engineer for which one had to study and obtain a degree !! That left me with a big question hovaring in my mind 'Then what was I supposed to do/study for to join politics ?? My small mind found the question ultra difficult and I gave up..So when people asked me...... 'Beta,what you want to become when you grow big ?' I changed my answer from PM to an Engineer :) a legacy of my father ....but still,somewhere in the corner of mind I never wanted to take up job like my fathers, who worked with non living things...the circuits....for the whole day!! (I thought I loved people ..I thought that they atleast praise when someone works for them but circuits do not  :) :) ) Anyway,i ignored that corner of my mind.

But then things changed again  and I started understanding more ..

By this time I had revised the later answer(engineer) again and again and the former (PM) became blurr and was pushed in an unattentive part of my barin and without caring much about it I found myself busy with my school tests, the rat race around,my atheletics matches,my tennis matches and slowly politics became a big NO..NO and major reasons being that I never understood the boring headlines of the newspapers...and I never understood why people fought in that green-brown archaic room with low hanging fans ??

But then things changed again and I started understanding some more ...

By this time I started understanding the headlines ..(not editorials though) I understood why those people fought in the green brown room..and I very well understood that they fought even outside.
I understood from what I read..I heard ..I discussed  and came to a conclusion politics is a brat's game altogether..people join politics for own selfish reasons or people who dont know anything know everything about politics or people who have their mothers and fathers in it join politics soo for me politics was now like ..."EEEEKs I hate poilitics" !
This feeling remained unchanged for quite a long time until....

Things changed and I started understanding some what more ...

I became a Computer Engineer and started working with the non living things! Even though I worked with the thinking machines which were far better than circuits at least  :) I still thought/felt that I loved people much more than these non livings. I loved listening to them ..I loved organising events for them..i loved guiding them..i loved thinking for them ..i loved fighting for them..i loved questioning others just for them...i loved seeing them happy around me. This feeling was much much better than a fixing a bug !! It was then when I realised that it was the time to find answer to the long lost question.
Even before I heard Shashi Tharoor or Rahul G say that middle class should take interest in Politics I was of the same opinion as theirs ..I started feeling that Politics is not all that bad and it requires the middle class to jump in..and when I had heard ST and RG and many more say that Politics did require the middle class ...my feeling strengthened. and the word which was once pushed in one corner of my brain (PM)...started dancing right behind my thoughts .Suddenly i decided to join politics...Youth congress.

As usual things changed and I started understanding in real sense...

One fine day I declared that I was filling form of youth congress and everyone in the house was zapped ! Hell broke down for all of them !! There was a huge hue and cry about my decision ..lots of difficult questions followed which made me think seriously before i submitted the form...and left me with the a feeling "Am i doing the right thing !!!"

 The questions were ..

• Everybody says that it is a puddle of dirty water at the low level ...how are you gonna survive to get to the top???
• You are an unmarried,unsecured,just started living,naive to the world of politics and most importantly a young girl like a glass vessal ..who will protect you ??Who will gaurd those guards out there ???(You know moms :) but this time it was my dad too :) )
• You are a middle class girl whose father,brother,mother or even a distant relative is not a MLA,MP or for that matter even a simple ward counciler...who will guide you ?????
• What if you had to compromise your ethics , would you ??
• When you know you cannot change the system ...why go into it???
• Whom will you rely on ???
• What if tommorrow something adverse happens ??

I could hear my mother cry and say 'See Kasturi, we do not have those super contacts like other people ! If god forbid, some adverse condition crops up..me a poor housewife and your father a poor soul  wont be able to do annnnnnything..except giving up our lives ..For us only things we have with us are ..our ethics and you both (me n my bro) ..U both happy and we are happy ...then you decide ?
The night was restless but me being a true optimist never looked at the side they were trying to show me ...i knew firmly that the next day I was going to submit the form.
I silenced everyone @ home with my enthu ,confidence and my convincing capabilities..
I had realised that I had only one life with me and I could take chance only in this one ..i assured them that i will draw limits for myself and not get hyper about it..I told them I'll continue working with the non livings and just do my small bit !! Without thinking more I went and submitted the form of youth congress.

Things dint change and I dint know whether I ever understood anything ??

I was now a software proffesional and a member of youth congress..In their first meet they proudly introduced me to many of their members ..most of them ,the superior sex and hardly any women
(which made me uncomfy :( though ).Most of them were introduced as nephew of 'XYZ' ward councillor,daughter of 'ABC' minister,cousin of 'LMN' ward councillor which terrified and petrified me...coz I had no one like that .A chill ran down my spine and I kept giving fake smiles.But without having any furthur prejudices with an open mind i attended the meeting I heard their agenda,their motives,aims and plans ...and things changed !

I was assured that ...though they werent people with ipods ..
though they werent people who used deos ..
though they werent people with inshirts and orderly trousers ..
though they werent people with those sophisticated looks ...
though they werent people I am used to seeing around me ....
THEY WERENT THAT BAD ..THEIR THOUGHTS WERENT THAT BAD.

I am ultra ultra happy that I had taken the right decision and at least had taken a small(smallest) step towards accomplishing  my dreams.I know its a long..long...long journey ..and though I wont be able to become a PM..I will be happy that at least I am doing my bit for my world !

Now wait..I dont understand wether what I feel is correct or is it too early to feel like that :) :)
Time will tell ...Waiting for things to change furthur :) :) Wish me luck guys :)

NOTE :

1. At times those horrifying questions DO crop up in my mind and shivers DO run in my spine.
2. I am sad about one fact ..that today I kept those questions aside and took a really audacious step but there are thousands who are willing but still have got stuck up with those questions which are occluding/preventing them to enter politics ...and unfortunately I dont have a slightest idea ...what I can do for it ..except for writing this post  :(  :( May be Shashi tharoor and Rahul Gandhi can come up with a solution :)
3. Dont think that I understand everything about politics now..I still have problem in understanding some editorials and god knows what will happen once I start understanding them.
4. I have said that I cannot be the PM just because I still feel that you need a godfather in politics and I am still searching for one :) Anybody out there ???????????????????????????????????Helllowww ??