When I passed out of college, my dream was to join the civil services. Nope, it wasn't the Indian Administrative Service or IAS as is popularly known but the Indian Police Service (IPS). The ambassador car with a revolving beacon light on the top and the uniform used to set my pulse racing. I wanted to be an idealist officer who has sworn to protect the constitution and serve the interests of the public.
Those days there used to a television series titled "Udaan". The plot revolves around a woman IPS officer. It was aired once a week on our national broadcaster known by its popular name "Doordarshan". I didn't want even to miss one episode of that series. I found it riveting and it used to further fan my desire.
But then life has its own twists and turns. I fell in love with writing code and now that has become my means of earning bread and butter.
When I read about the abduction of District Collector of Malkangiri district bordering Andhra and Orissa along with an Engineer by the maoists, one would have tended to ignore it as a routine news item. No one would have even heard about Malkangiri.
What captured my imagination was that Mr.Vineel Krishna, the District Collector used to go around the village supervising works on a motorcycle. Now in a status conscious society where everyone wants to show their power here is someone who went about his job without a fuss just like a common man. He didn't move around with security.
When some officials pointed out that it was a Maoist infested village his answer was to forget that it was "Maoist affected" and carry on with your work. He was instrumental in helping tribals and expediting the works under the flagship programmes like NREGA. No wonder he found a lot of support from the local population who knew that they have to stand up for someone who was not afraid of carrying out his job under adverse circumstances.
It's sad that the Maoists have abducted someone who worked for the welfare of the people. At the time of writing this article, Mr.Krishna hasn't still been released. I fervently hope and pray that he is released unharmed along with the engineer.
Vineel Krishna is just like the revolving light on the ambassador car, a beacon of hope for the steel structure of India (to quote sardar vallabhbhai patel) which has been badly corroded. People like Vineel Krishna and Dr.Binayak Sen who work for the poorest and downtrodden sections of society are the real heroes of India. May their tribe increase :)
(References: thehindu.com)
(Image courtesy: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060830/jal2.jpg)
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