The significance of the fact that I was stepping out of my home to join the #BharatJodoYatra on #GandhiJayanti was not lost on me. I have been worried for some time now, on how, as citizens we have let down the Mahatma whom we best know now only as the face on currency notes. 1/ 
Was my participation in the #BharatJodoYatra a simple matter of walking with others on a city street? No. The Yatra was not passing through Bengaluru, so I needed to take a train instead, to Mysuru. My daughter decided to accompany me, with her son. We reached that afternoon. 2/
The first sight that met our eyes was the @INCIndia office just outside Mysuru station. By the time we reached our hotel, we had seen autos with loudspeakers inviting people from Mysuru to a public meeting that evening, and the #BharatJodoYatra the next day. 3/
The Yatra schedule had been shared with me by @BharvRahul, and I was very keen to meet him, one of the 100 selected full time yatris, an emerging young leader from Varanasi. I decided to go ahead and attend the public meeting where we could meet. 4/
The rain, which had been forecast for 2 pm, then 3 and 4 pm on my phone, suddenly started pelting down just after 6. My daughter and grandson had their side of the auto covered by a considerate driver. We drove to the meeting venue on the outskirts of town. #BharatJodoYatra 5/
The video of @RahulGandhi addressing that public meeting in the #MysuruRain has gone viral, and will always be remembered for how it underlined the resolve of the Yatra and the response it got from people. #BharatJodoYatra 6/
For me, the heavy police barricading outside the meeting venue plus the rain meant I could not walk to hear the address. Instead, as my saree was getting drenched from one side, I had a chance to reflect, and talk to our auto driver about why the #BharatJodoYatra was necessary7/
He spoke about rising prices, about propaganda, emphasising that the work was not visible, while speeches were telecast non stop. The #BharatJodoYatra was a good thing, he said. People needed an outlet for their feelings. Watching the rain, we were fellow Indians in agreement.8/
A short while later, I learnt that @BharvRahul had already reached the night halt site. We headed back into town & met at the gate of the night halt. He is someone close to my son's age, undertaking this arduous journey to reclaim our country and our values. #BharatJodoYatra 9/
How could I express solidarity with a young man who has left his wife & toddler twins for months for #BharatJodoYatra? I could only carry a few small comforts - food and home remedies. My heart was full of prayers and blessings for him and all the Yatris, as they press on. 10/
So much is spewed out on our TV and in print everyday, about the @INCIndia elections. So much is being tomtommed, to hide the most important event of our time - a 3600 km journey to reclaim the soul of India. #BharatJodoYatra 11/
Free advice to @RahulGandhi by sneering liberals has been handed out for years. The cynicism of the 'Hoga kya?' brigade among us is something I have encountered often in my own work as a writer, and written about it too. #BharatJodoYatra is not to satisfy such folk. 12/
The Yatra could just have been abt rising prices, which are affecting us all. Or crippling taxes & inequality compounded by crony capitalism. Or unemployment, or women's safety. If any of these had been d focus, TV anchors & reductionist columnists would have had a field day! 13/
They would have contrasted the Chanakya qualities of Sanghi planners with the efforts of a party that fought for Independence and does not shirk from fighting for it again. But #BharatJodoYatra is much more than that. They know it, and are rendered ineffective. 14/
The #BharatJodoYatra is about the power of love to triumph over hate. It is about finding solutions 2 r shared problems by acknowledging r shared identity.
It is not an exercise in political gimmickry, but the most difficult route of all 2 have taken.
And it is still alive15/
It is not an exercise in political gimmickry, but the most difficult route of all 2 have taken.
And it is still alive15/
I was able to walk only a few kilometres of the #BharatJodoYatra on the 3rd.
But you have the choice to join it at a place and time of your choice and raise your voice in song or slogan, honouring our freedom fighters & marching to secure our future. #JaiHind #BharatJodoYatra
But you have the choice to join it at a place and time of your choice and raise your voice in song or slogan, honouring our freedom fighters & marching to secure our future. #JaiHind #BharatJodoYatra
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