Of Rallies and Road-blocks!

Our college recently organized an Anti-Tobacco rally from our campus till a certain Anna gate (which I heard is near Tanjavur). To begin with, I wonder whom the gathering was going to enlighten, for the road leading to our college is part of NH 67 and like most highways, the vicinity is scantily inhabited. Anyhow, the rally was supposed to be from 9.30am to 3pm and it didn’t take me long to back out (for obvious reasons!). Well then, I had to think of an elucidation for this “dereliction of duty” on my part and that’s when I realized how outdated and futile rallies have become.
Smoking is a habit that has had its fatal grip on mankind for ages. And its consequences- bronchitis and lung cancer, which can direct people to their deathbed – are long-familiar. The world today has developed so much in the past century that information is- as popularly said- “just a click away”. Ignorance is scarcely an ‘excuse’ for smoking as there’s a statutory warning on the pack people buy, for crying out loud! I do admit that our college isn’t located in the most sophisticated of places (it’s sited in a barren village, which, by the way, lacks even an iota of scenic beauty or greenery) but let us give some credit to the villagers here. Even if the villagers are illiterate, experience must have taught them about the cost they pay for this abominable habit.
Moreover, rallies (in my opinion) belong to an era where the public had the time and patience to pay attention to what happens on the roads. Modernization had filled up the timetables of every human being sparing very less time for their own leisure activities! Who ponders over why a crowd has gathered unless they’re actually part of the crowd??!! And if truth be told, I don’t think anyone hustling on NH67 was even going to give this posse with placards a second glance!

Growing up in Kerala, a state fairly renowned for its frequent strikes and ‘hartals’, I’ve often wondered why people show their dissatisfaction with some organization by disconcerting everyone else’s routine. Shops are closed and no vehicles are allowed on the roads during ‘hartals’ whereas the same roads get bunged with traffic during strikes (so, sometimes, we did get days off from school! Yay!). I have always cursed the dissidents for holding such protests but have never bothered to give their cause a further thought (Though I’m not really proud to admit it!). And I’m rather sure that the same is the case with at least 75% of the populace affected by such remonstrations.
I don’t imply that we shouldn’t protest against any iniquitous decision taken. I’m merely trying to say that when we show our disapproval, we shouldn’t infringe on others’ freedom. The protest should impinge only on the organization from which we’re demanding justice and not the general public. If one wants to go on a hunger strike, they’re free to! But why fast in the middle of the roads and create more commotion for the common man? Or march with posters and placards congesting our already jam-packed roadways to make people “aware” of the evils they purchase with a cigarette- when the whole world knows about it already?
When we have left a lot of old customs behind while progressing this far, why can’t we shed a few superannuated modes of protest too? Especially when they, in this day and age, simply classify as communal nuisance! It’s high time we took up the less annoying and more far-reaching ways to show our dissent - like using the media. The ads for polio vaccination have turned out to be really effectual. Where the media is less accessible, of course, we have to go back to our dear old door-to-door approach. But try that in a city and one will only have doors slammed right on his face! So, as the adage goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”!