A bribe-opposing resident of Bhoisar who stripped down to his underwear in Mumbai’s Thane Road Transport Office to press his demand for a long-pending commercial vehicle driving licence on Monday, realised Gandhigiri doesn’t always work. Instead of the sympathetic hearing from officials that he expected, all the man got was punishment — the police picked him up on charges of obscenity!
Wadilal Anantrao Jadhav, 38, who had applied for a commercial licence to drive three-wheelers in September, 2005, failed to get his work done as he refused to bribe RTO clerks. On Monday, inspired by the film Lage Raho Munnabhai, Jadhav decided to strip at the RTO office to drive home his point. Dressed in a khadi kurta and dhoti, and carrying a rose and a stick, Jadhav walked into the RTO office and started stripping before the shocked RTO clerks. But, instead of obliging Jadhav, the officials called up the police. The police then whisked Jadhav away to the police station. Jadhav was released late on Monday evening after police recorded his grievance and motive for the stripping act!
Fine, Lage Raho Munnabhai was a great movie, and attempts are being made to revive the Gandhian movement, but do you think this kind of Gandhigiri works in modern times?
3 Comments
June 26, 2008 at 5:20 am
On the one hand i think that the man is right,guys wat will the public do if the government officials who portray the motto “serving you always” think that bribe is more important for them.That’s a rare incident .We should take steps to wake up the sleeping authorities so that these officials who demand bribe instead of work can have a taste of there own medicine.
June 27, 2008 at 2:00 pm
“Do Not Try This At Home” should be the warning every time “Lage Raho Munnabhai” is showcased on Television. Though the movie was fantastic, i cannot imagine the concept can work in real life. Considering the above case, my belief holds truth!
June 28, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Lincoln had said ” Most men can deal with adversity but if you want to test the real character of a man, give him power”. And last 60 years have proved that perennial and habitual slaves that we have been for ages, we didn’t know how to handle power….we just went berserk. In Gandhi ji’s time, the big difference was that even the heartless rulers did eventually show shame for themselves and appreciation for our freedom fighters’ battle for independence and dignity.
Such incidences have always brought out the painful fact that the public servants care two hoots for a common citizen of the country, his fundamental rights and no one is really bothered to do anything about it. Check with the minister in charge of RTOs and show me if he has initiated any corrective action on his own.
The reason for Lage Raho Munnabhai winning so many awards was that the helpless, hapless people identified with the theme, applauding the hero for doing something they know they will never be able to do themselves for obvious reasons. Look at what happened to Jadhav.
Munnabhai, just forget it…Gandhi ji didn’t die in 1948. He has been dying a slow, painful death, day by day since they removed his body from the Birla Mandir compound.
Anil Bhatnagar