Everybody loves a protest

Who doesn’t love a wholesome protest? I see lines outside a protest venue longer than those at a shopping mall on the 1st day, no, the 3rd day of a sale. To protest is wonderful, to have the ability to stand up for yourself is one thing, but to gather enough courage, to be resilient enough to stand up for others, for people you might not have ever seen is awe-inspiring. Discretion may be the better part of valor but when it comes to a protest, discretion is just another word flung about by pseudo-intellectuals.

Chanting aloud what you stand for, shrieking out each and every syllable with intensity second to none is exhilarating. The ability to make people quake in their own boots, send a shiver down their spines, and more is not the reason why I protest. I do not protest just to click the ‘attending’ option on a social networking website. Not for the bottles of water available at protest venues or even the chance to get in contact with like-minded people. Protest is a form of revolt which has stood the test of time. It is a symbol that the authorities will do what they want to do, the so-called rule of law will be followed and implemented, and then, the people shall have their say.

Violence is not the answer; it is never the answer to wrongful acts. A protest is. We protest with much fanfare, with a song on our lips and a spring in our step, if I was to take a poetic stance on a protest. The acts of violence against protests have more or less remained the same over the ages barring a few technological ‘improvements’. Sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never hurt us. Bring it all, the sticks, the guns, the gas, we shall bear it all, take it all. Our cause is greater than your need for order, our ability to bear pain transcends all that you will ever see if the protest is true in nature.

Does a protest create havoc, lead to misunderstandings, it may. But what a protest surely does is send out a rallying call, a sign that all is not lost. It is darkest before dawn and that is where we step in, that is where our much-abused feet bear the brunt of all that we must stand for. Face the ire of all against the cause, of all ignorant of the cause is taken for granted but what drives us is not the cause itself but the mass of people who believe in what we believe and stand for it regardless of the consequences which are far from desirable.

Protest for what you want, Protest wherever you can, Protest with whom you can, because when all is said and done, when all has been written and filed away in the archives, what will remain, is the echo of all which you said. The sound is ethereal and transcends the dissent shown by all, wait, almost all of them!