A Candlelit Trail

We had seen his face plastered all over the news channels in Delhi, but I had no idea who Anna Hazare was. At breakfast I asked for an English language newspaper, received the Times of India and went off in search of parathas. Having loaded up my plate I sat down and sank my teeth, albeit in a fairly shallow manner, into Indian politics.
Anna Hazare is a social activist from a movement called India Against Corruption, and at 74 had been arrested due to attracting more than 5000 people to join him in a hunger strike. His plight resonated with Indians from a huge variety of backgrounds and upon his arrest there was a national protest underway. After breakfast the news stations were promoting Twitter hashtags for protests being held around the country. Intrigued, we decided to head for India Gate at sunset.
Although a bit apprehensive over whether we were interfering, we soon plucked up the courage to walk through the police barriers at the entrance to the Rajpath. We took photos in front of the majestic war monument and then passed through a second set of barriers, complete with armed guard, to the circle. We were met by a wall of colour and sound; people waving the Indian flag and chanting ‘Anna Hazare hum tumhere saat hai!’ - Anna Hazare we are with you. Every now and again the hundreds-strong crowd would gather around a different person, raised on another’s shoulders, to hear a speech or song. We bought a snack from a street vendor and watched the scene unfurl; an incredible sight with both India Gate and the sunset as a backdrop. As darkness fell a candlelit vigil began; having been around the protest for a while, we were offered candles and obediently sat down and began chanting. The circle was on fire, and this was only one of 500 similar protests going on all over the country. I could feel the passion of the people around me and could see full belief in this movement in every eye. We sat and chanted for hours, till we felt a glint in our eyes too.