Dear Citizens of India,

Many people have discarded this campaign as a mere emotional beckoning on part of some people who mourn the personal loss of Manu Akhouri. They have also questioned us about the real motif of running this campaign. What difference is it going to make? Is it going to prevent any more precious lives from being lost? Is it, in any way possible, going to change the way our authorities have handled the very sensitive issue of these MiG-21 we have now crowned ‘Flying Coffins’? Is it ever going to change the mindsets of people? Is it ever going to jerk people out of the numbness they have accepted as their fate?

The answer is Yes. It is the mindset that binds us, not circumstances. Let us just ask ourselves, why can’t we raise a voice and ask the authorities to LISTEN TO US? Why can’t we demand an answer from the people who have been CHOSEN BY US to run this nation? Why can’t we ask them to honor people like Flt. Lt. Manu Akhouri, who has found a place in our hearts as OUR HERO? This is our country, and the most shameful of all deeds is to abandon our duties as responsible citizens.

The clichéd statements that come out of us as sighs at every such unfortunate incident are a living proof of our guilt- ‘this country is going to dogs’ or ‘things are never going to change around here’. Let us ask ourselves- how many of us really have regards for our social duties? How many of us have written a single letter to the editor of some newspaper concerning an issue? How many of us have felt a surge of patriotism on an occasion other than having watched ‘Rang De Basanti’? How many of us have protested a beating of a wife in our neighborhood? How many of us have taken the benefit of that power imparted to us by the Govt. of India which is called the Right to Information? How many of us have ever used their right to vote? Why haven’t we? Why don’t we? How can we blame the system to be corrupt when we, the people of India, have never bothered to collectively raise a voice against it?

Our media is negative, because inspite of holding potential power in its hands, it does not have the active support of people. See what was done to Flt. Lt. Manu Akhouri? How many of us knew Manu Akhouri through media? And how many were interested in knowing the story of yet another pilot who lost his life in a MiG-21 crash? Not many, we must confess. Flt. Lt. Akhouri would have got at least a decent timeslot on the Prime Time had he fallen in war. Can’t we see where this leads? Our sentiments are aroused by the contemporary issues, but this arousal is temporary. Every time a MiG-21 falls, we get angry, blame our politicians and finally settle down in our lives. Going to office, killing time, coming back home, visiting malls, watching movies… most of us don’t consider ourselves capable of bringing about a change.

Every time a man stands up for a cause, he can distinctively be seen. Why? Because he is alone. The people around him are either too scared, or too busy to stand up with him. Scared of what? Busy with what?

This blog is For Manu Akhouri. But it belongs to us. Flt. Lt. Manu Akhouri gave it all, and it is now our turn. We have taken it upon ourselves to pay our dues to him. We request all those who have taken the initiative to visit this blog and put their comments on it to join hands. This blog is NOT a place to mourn Manu Akhouri’s death. It is to celebrate his life, and his courage. Like one of our friends commented ‘A true soldier never gives up, and he never dies‘- we celebrate the immortality of Manu Akhouri. Please let the issue be known among your friends, in your neighborhood, in your office and gather support. Once we all stand together, we can share any burden. The burden on our souls that has been haunting us for not being able to do anything.

Let us not stare up and sigh- ‘Manu, we wish we had half the courage you had’. Let us salute him and say proudly- ‘Manu, we did our bit.’