Day 4: People power spills to the streets

CHENNAI: After three days of mirroring Anna’s fast at a building on Lal Bahadur Shastri Road, volunteers of India Against Corruption took the call for support for the Jan Lokpal Bill by taking to the road, literally. A bunch of volunteers decided to elicit support the ‘active’ way by heading to the road and calling passers-by and motorists to “come in and fight for a better tomorrow”. If jostling motorists and drawing the attention of bus-travellers wasn’t enough, they even chased after pedestrians. Two harried women promised to return after they left their kids at home. This led to a minor brush with the Thiruvanmiyur cops, who asked them not to confine their activities, such that the public were  not disturbed.As for those with the Gandhian caps who have been living off water for the past four days, the news that Hazare had reached Ramlila Maidan in Delhi brought some cheer. Jagadeesh, owner of a BPO in Anna Nagar, said that it surprised him that so many people from an ascetic to IT professionals had undertaken the fast. “We are keeping tuned and letting people know what we’re feeling via the Internet,” he said pointing to his laptop.On criticism that not many youngsters had chosen to fast, II year Vis Comm student Meril Chakravarthy agreed that “compared to other places, the response from youth to fast was less.” But he added that over the weekend, “close to 1,500 persons would be expected and most of them would be youngsters released from work and college.” Keeping CountNet-entrepreneur Rahul Vallamber from Delhi, has found a way to keep a tab on the rising support for Hazare. The founder of www.stopterrorism.com said joining the IAC was an inspiration. “Last night we went live with our site being a portal to vote for the government’s Lokpal Bill or Anna’s Jan Lokpal Bill.”  In less than 24 hours, two lakh voted for the latter, while only 1,503 persons chose UPA-II’s version. Side Ventures flourishThere were a few who were using the space to promote other schemes. Some were seen campaigning against animal cruelty, for vegetarianism and so on, while the stickers, flags and Gandhi caps did brisk business.