A Noticeable Change

A Noticeable Change

Anand and Avinash are colleagues working for the same bank. They have been friends through university. They were lucky in getting jobs at the same place. Both are interested in motion pictures, cricket and politics.

The burning topic at their work place these days, apart from the economic crisis that hit the country in the recent past is, the issue of State Assembly elections scheduled to be held in two months’ time.

Both the parties, the PPP (People’s Progressive Party) and the UPP (United People’s Party) have fielded efficient young men as their candidates.

The first phase of election takes place at the state level. The people of the state elect members of the Legislative Assembly as the state’s representatives. These are MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly).
The individual parties also put up candidates for the Parliament of the country. They are known as MPs (Members of Parliament). This election, however, will take place in four month’s time.

Election campaigning has started in the earnest and its fast momentum is seen throughout the state. Leaders of the two parties started wooing the people with promises to remove the existing corruption and bring down price rise, if they get elected. In addition, the PPP leaders said that they would change the obsolete agricultural methods in the state. The UPP on the other hand, promised free electricity to the farmers and creating jobs for the unemployed youth if they win.

People are adequately and effectively confused.

The election scenario and the gimmicks of the parties are the hot topics in the city’s cafes, hotels, markets and households.

In the canteen attached to their bank, on a bright Monday morning, the friends chatted for a while, over coffee break.
‘I have a hunch that the UPP will win this round’ said Anand as he glanced through the headlines in the daily newspaper.
‘No. I don’t think so. Look at their agenda. Is it possible to supply free power to the farmers in the entire state? They don’t dare straining the state’s exchequer any further. All they aim at, is votes.’ Avinash replied with spirit.
‘On the contrary I am sure the PPP will bag more seats’ continued Avinash. ‘They have a new star on the block. Dheera has started her campaign in the most unorthodox way. She will sail past rivals easily.’

Anand refuted his friend’s opinion.

‘Dear Avinash, where do you think we are living? Not in America. This is India my friend. There are more MCPs (Male Chauvinistic Pigs) here than emancipated women who fight elections. I bet a three-day vacation for you in Singapore, if Dheera wins the election.
‘Are we serious?’
‘Never more serious’
‘Done?’
‘Done.’

The people of the state watched the parties, going in different directions of the state, canvassing and haranguing.

Songs and dances and street shows are seen taking place all over the state, with the parties eulogizing their leaders and their motives.

Anand and Avinash watched Dheera, the contestant from PPP quite closely. They noted that every day there is something of interest regarding Dheera’s election strategy, in the newspapers.
Her main agenda, they noticed, rather stunned, is banning alcohol consumption.

‘This is ridiculous’ said Anand, as they started walking towards their scooters in the parking lot, at the end of a working day.
‘Sixty percent of state’s revenue comes from liquor sale. She cannot even dream of banning the hot drinks’, he continued.
‘Let’s wait and see what happens,’ said Avinash. ‘It depends on how she handles the issue. It will benefit many commoners if it materializes’ he said.

Dheera took the issue of the evil of drinking habit, to the countryside. She knew from her own experience the damage to a family, if the father is an addict to the drink.
Her own father died of sickness due to heavy drinking. She had to go through several trials to complete her education. Her mother had to work hard as a ladies’ tailor. Luckily, some of her relatives were generous enough, to pay her tuition fees whenever they could.

She has been witnessing a number of cases of domestic violence and child labor due to the drunkard father’s inability at supporting his family.
She knew of commoners working as drivers in the state transport, falling prey to alcohol and drove themselves to death on the high way, in their intoxicated state.
Colleges going youth and young men of promising career have lost their career prospects due to their slavery to drink.
In big cities men and women indulge in fashionable soirees or private evening parties, drink to excess and then commit serious crimes. Late night drinking has resulted in several crimes, involving murders due to jealousy and scuffles.

Dheera spoke to the village population about the damage caused by alcohol consumption. She gave examples of how at the end of a working day, the agricultural laborers and workers in factories, head straight to the pub in the village and spend their money on country made liquor. This is even more dangerous than the branded drinks.

Their wives wait in desperation for the husbands, long into the night. The husbands stagger in late at night and in their drunken state, lose their temper over small things, sometimes for no reason at all. Domestic violence erupts. They beat the poor wives and the kids. Everything goes haywire. The family sleeps on empty stomachs. This is their daily misery. Dheera told them of the kind of tragedy they are in. She pointed out, unless they awoke and rebelled and resisted, addiction to alcohol is going to be a permanent scourge in their lives and in the lives of their children too.

The women started listening to the reasonable arguments put up by Dheera, the PPP’s candidate.
They were impressed by her impassionate speeches and praised her attitude. They also took the cue from her that they should rebel against the mischief of drink.

In Rampur, a small village in the state, there is a small body of women welfare society run by a few literate women. They have some activities for women, which helped them in earning some income on the side. They run tailoring classes, basket making with coir and plastic wire, mushroom cultivation and adult education classes. Once the trainees acquire skill, they can apply for a loan in the bank under self-employment scheme and start an independent industry. Eventually, they clear the bank loan.

These women heard of Dheera’s electoral issue and decided to support her. They made an elaborate plan and put it into practice.
On a morning in the village common hall, women sat in groups and various classes were going on.
‘I have a plan to cure them of drinking’ said Neha, a young woman who teaches basket making at the center.
‘What is it?’ asked several curious voices in unison.
‘Come closer. Let me explain the procedure’ Neha told them the modus operandi.

In a humble tenement in the village, at nine O’clock at night,

‘Where are you, you useless woman?’ rang a harsh voice. No answer. Nagu became more enraged and started mouthing a string of abuses.

‘Where is my dinner?’ he demanded.
‘There is no dinner’ answered his wife.
‘How dare you bloody fool?’
‘You kill me or kill yourself, you can’t have dinner’.
‘Why didn’t you cook you daughter of a donkey?’
‘You took away all the money. The provision store refused to give on credit.’

The same routine repeated on the next night. Nagu relented on the next morning and gave his wife money to buy provisions.

After eating dinner on one night, he shouted for his wife from his bed. No answer. He got up and went to the next room looking for her. He shook his sleeping wife and tried to get her to his bed.
She didn’t move an inch, very much like an obstinate mule.

‘You idiot, what is wrong with you?’
‘Nothing really. I love you very much’
‘Then why don’t come to me?’
‘I will, on one condition’
‘Condition? What condition?’ Nagu said in exasperation.
‘Stop drinking. Come home from the field. Be with us.’
‘Are you mad? How dare you demand that I stop drinking!’
He slapped her and tried to force her to comply. His coercion didn’t work.

For a week, the process repeated in several houses. Gradually, the men saw how impotent they became without their wives’ love or warmth. There was no alternative to stop going to the drinking house. The change was slow, yet certain. Most of the men now went home.
There is great determination and involvement on the part of the women, in putting their plan to practice.
The men got thoroughly confused at this unprecedented turn of events.

On a fine night, the women burnt the pubs down. Sympathetic police looked the other way. They accosted the wine agents and beat them up.

The rebellion of women spread to other parts of the state. Soon it was like a wild fire catching every nook and corner of the state. Educated, forward looking women groups joined in this record setting reformation program.

They forced the state government to close the wine shops. Soon, prohibition was legalized. The ruling party knew that it was a people’s verdict. If they didn’t adhere to the public demand, they know they would be forced to exit.

Dheera, thus by a valid reason, had the support of the women voters. She won the election by a large margin.

Having won the bet, Avinash left for a stay of three days at Singapore, the beautiful city-state.


Word count: 1604.