RALEGAN SIDDHI: Relief and jubilation coursed through Anna Hazare's native village of Ralegan Siddhi on Saturday night as hundreds of villagers assembled at the Yadavbaba temple to soak in his victory.
But there was apprehension in the air. Many villagers said that they were keeping their fingers crossed and praying that nothing would now go wrong till Anna breaks his fast on Sunday morning.
Patriotic songs were played and youths clapped and danced with the Indian tricolour. Crackers were burst and A R Rehman's composition 'Jai Ho' rent the air and was played repeatedly on demand. Two television sets were placed at the Yadavbaba temple to enable villagers to see what was happening in Parliament and at the Ramlila Grounds in Delhi. Women also joined in the celebrations and played traditional 'phugadi' to show their happiness.
An elaborate celebration has been planned in the village from 9 am on Sunday. Every house in the village will put up a gudhi (a silk cloth tied to a stick with a small vessel at the top) that is usually put up to celebrate the Marathi new year, and the Indian tricolour. A disc jockey has also been invited to play music.
Village sarpanch Jaisingh Mapari described the breakthrough as Anna's and democracy's victory. "The village has always supported Anna, but we saw the entire country backing him. This shows his strength and we are all happy," he said.
Santosh Bhalekar, who has been participating in the agitations planned by the villagers over the last 12 days, said that the breakthrough could have been achieved much earlier. "The government could have accepted Anna's demands in a couple of days, but the leaders never took a firm stand. Finally, it was the people's pressure that made the government give in. It feels good to see that the government has accepted Anna's demands," he said.
Village youth Vikas Ogale said that the support and response from the youth in the country to Anna's call was overwhelming. "We used to see it on television and feel proud. Anna has won yet again," he said.
Subhash Pathade, a teacher in the village school said that he knew that Anna would not break his fast tonight. "Whenever Anna has gone on a hunger strike on previous occasions, he always broke the fast in the morning. So, even though the government accepted his demands late in the evening, I knew he would wait till Sunday morning," said a beaming Pathade.
He said that the real celebrations will start once the villagers actually see him breaking the fast on television.
Young Panchali Pathare said that she had participated in the chain hunger strike and felt that she had contributed to the cause. "I am happy that Anna has won, yet again. I am happy that youths contributed in a big way in his battle," she said.
Sangeeta Gajare said that she will wait till Sunday morning to celebrate. "I will be really happy when I see Anna breaking his fast. The government did not handle the situation well and there were many occasions when negotiations ended in a deadlock. I pray that nothing bad happens in the night and no more obstacles are created," she said.
"Now we will wait for Anna to come back to us," she added
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