2013 was one of the most important years of my life. From personal choices to political choices everything changed. In the one year that has passed, there are many things that I have moved onto doing and many more things await me, but one thing that I miss and may not be able to do again is this small, yet powerful piece of work that was started in May 2013.
This year was spent with doing many interesting and powerful things, but somehow the yearning was always there at Jagdalpur for a really long time. The only other thing that really made me feel content was my work with SPACE in the same year.

A thought that germinated among the minds of those who worked, have worked and are working in the regions of Southern Bastar, or for that matter working on issues of adivasi rights over land, forests and resources has steadfastly moved and become what one could call the indispensable part of Bastar now. This idea has a name and an identity now, rather multiple identities, JAGLAG.

I was as excited, nervous and apprehensive as a kid who has just started going to school would be. But above all this, the thought that I would be doing what I have been wanting/waiting to do for 2 years and now has become a reality was something that made it even more inexplicable.

People say the journey is more important than the destination and I think in this case it holds true for me. The Journey that started with many of those unexpected things, many of those turns that one had to take and many of those moments that one always would cherish had begun for us, (me and 3 Friends) and the beginning was and is as good as the journey. There is both the present and the past in the journey, for some it still is the present and for me, it in some ways is the past.

The journey also led me to meeting some really strong willed, dedicated people who have shown to me why there is a need for courage, camaraderie, solidarity and sisterhood! But there is also a need for support of ones’ family and love to unconditionally support the ones undertaking a journey as this. Well, I am not placing this journey on a pedestal and undermining all other journeys as this, but all such journeys which has to do with taking the side of the oppressed, holding hands and standing with those wanting humanity to learn lessons from their history, culture and thought need all the mentioned prerequisites, but here it also needs the endurance to withstand the pressures of the Known and the unknown.

JAGLAG started with 4, of course with the support of many more, but in a period of 2 months it was down to 3. The person to leave, me. The reasons for me to leave were not political differences with the team, neither was it to do with me being ambitious, but it was more of the matters that needed more important attention by me than what I have been wanting to do. For once in my life, the most important decision was determined more by what my mind wanted than my heart.

This said, in the two months, things that were seen were quite a lot, the pressures of the known and the unknown were many and very few people on the ground for support, both professional as well as existential. In such a context for JAGLAG to exist and contribute in the ways they have by creating dents in the criminal justice system, shows that countering the Known and the unknown in these situations and places requires some grit, patience and determination and the team has it all. It has not just had it, but hopefully has been able to pass it on those numerous people who have stood up, struggled and sometimes won against the known and unknown powers that operate in the region. Even today, there are newer challenges and even though I am not there, I can feel these challenges staring down the faces of the people there.

In the process, there have been newer ideas that have been implanted, ideas of justice, fair and free, democracy, not through the gun, but more through patience and determination. And as the saying in the movie V for Vendetta goes, “an idea is not just flesh, an idea is not just blood or water, an idea is something that survives the bullet”. In this case, the idea of justice, will not only survive the bullet, but also the onslaught of those that consider these ideas to be meaningless.

It is also time for me to apologize to all those who had put their trust on me, have been my guides and have been people who have looked up to, to have let them down and to have let them feel disenchanted. But above all, I feel the need to apologize to the team, a team which after a year has become 4 again, to have let go off them and to those who have made me realise the true meaning of fraternity, solidarity and above all JUSTICE! This is hope in what would be the times to come, the times of sorrow,, grief and darkness.

More power to them and their kinds. This has been the longest year, a year that I may remind myself off even after years have passed……