Shyam Parekh Wednesday,May 6, 2009 12:19 IST
Ahmedabad:
Thirty-six years is no age for a lean, trim and seemingly underweight man to die of a heart attack. But Rahul Mangaonkar was known for doing things unusually.
Despite fears of sounding hackneyed and clichéd, I will say that with his passing away, not just Ahmedabad, but entire Gujarat has lost a warrior who fought to sensitise them about clean air for themselves.
Rahul fought quietly, not shouting slogans in the streets, but effected change in people's minds -- often in those of the virulently insensitive babudom and moneybags' offices.
He did this not for millions of his ilk who fight for personal gains, but for the good of the people who stood as stumbling blocks in ensuring a better environment for themselves!
It was on a wintry afternoon in 2003 that I first met him -- introduced as a guy who worked with an ad agency but was serious about environmental issues and activism. He sounded clear about what he wanted. "At this rate (of the surge in pollution), the people of this city will soon die. Why don't we do something?" He was trying to shake up the environmental journalism streak in me. The meeting venues kept shifting with my offices.
Soon the campaign he was driving 'Amdavadio Marsho', succeeded in shaking up Amdavadis from their deep slumber on environmental issues.
The activist in him took over the ad professional and he thrust his networking skills to enrol all and sundry into the AIR Initiative which helped create the right environment for the administration and powers that be to enforce CNG autorickshaws and more, with heart. He assiduously pursued what he had set out for -- cleaner environment for the city.
It was during one such brainstorming session that he shook me again with his confidence and foresight. "This RTI is going to be a big weapon for the common men. It is revolutionary. This should be more accessible to all. We should do something about it."
I registered his untiring zeal to make a difference and his sense of responsibility towards the society, which made him a rare breed. My cynicism failed to influence his conviction - I knew this guy was not just skin deep in his belief about the RTI's utility. Despite his repeated nudges for days to follow, I failed to come up with a smart solution. He dragged me along to knock on every door in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad that housed a potential supporter.
Finally, tired of his relentlessness, I suggested that he re-brand himself as an activist and start educating people by writing in newspapers. Since he communicated well and DNA was yet to be launched in the city, I suggested he approach other newspapers.
Probably the activist got the better of him and he eventually underwent a metamorphosis to surface as a fulltime journalist. I was shocked the day I heard about Rahul's new avatar. Probably the need to be 'professionally correct' saw us drift away and led to a patch of sterility; sometimes bitchy gossip generates mistrust. But he brushed it away soon with advice on which paediatricians and schools were beneficial for my little one.
One day, as he found that we had a problem getting an Election Commission I-card, he volunteered to get us an EPIC just a few days before the recent polling. This was his last gift -- to empower me to vote! I have one regret: that I could not thank him!
Barely a couple of years into journalism, he had carved a niche for himself. I will miss him as no one else had pushed me and many others, day in and out, to do our bit for the city and its environment. I will miss him because as a professional journalists we all tend to be bystanders; but he stood up for something. Adieu, Rahul, a real and dear Amdavadi who fought for his city's health. May your soul rest in peace.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1253366
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