THE POWER OF ONE

On December 1, 1955, Rose Parks was seating on a bus-seat secluded for blacks. However, the driver demanded that she relinquish her seat to a white passenger. Parks refused and her subsequent arrest and trial for this act of civil disobedience triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history, and launched Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the organizers of the boycott, to the forefront of the civil rights movement. Her role in American history earned her an iconic status in American culture, and her actions have left an enduring legacy for civil rights movements around the world.

On November 18, 2006, in Goa, Patricia Pinto stood firm in her resolve to save the unwarranted felling of trees. Very few rushed to her support and when the police threatened arrest, barring lawyer Satish Sonak, the others too moved away. The next day’s pictures carried pictures of a defiant and determined Patricia standing next to the trees. That image struck a chord in the collective consciousness of Goans. Stung by a sense of shame and indignation, people from all walks of life got together to take on the nefarious nexus between the corrupt politician and the avaricious land grabbers who had resorted to large scale cutting of mountains, mangroves and sand dunes, in blatant violation of the laws of the land. The “Save Goa” movement was born.

Too often, we insist that “an individual cannot make a difference”. And we ignore that in this land of ours walked a man called Mahatma Gandhi who did not wait for people to follow him. A person who had the courage to stand up for what he believed in. A leader who could move against the tide of what his followers believed in. However it is pertinent to note that he did not rest with his individual actions. He moved beyond to gather and consolidate a people’s movement and yet maintain his own vision and perspectives. Gandhi, Parks and Patricia have taught us a significant lesson: the power of one… the power of individual initiative. And when they become the fulcrum for connecting others the initiative becomes multi-dimensional.

The power of one does not remain a solitary intention
when people get together to “develop new dimensions”

Regards
Pravin