I met the MLA I elected, in his office on Saturday last week. It was very refreshing, to say the least.
There is a dying lake down the road from my house; one of the many neglected water bodies in my metro Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), the city of lakes. Some of the residents on either flank of the road teamed up with other littoral residents and decided to approach the elected representative and request him to restore the lake. I was part of this delegation.
The meeting was arranged for 10.30 AM. Expecting delays, “politicians do not keep appointed timings” - so thinking, I had rescheduled all my meetings for late afternoon on that day. As a good measure I carried packed lunch too – you can never tell about these politicians, I presumed.
Most of us reached his office by 10.20 AM. You see we thought if we are late he may use that as an excuse to deny us a meeting. We removed our shoes outside and entered the plush office complex in our socks and were soon ushered into the meeting room. It was a well appointed place. Rows of chairs moulded in steel, ergonomically designed and painted in a shade of blue -very comfortable. It was 10.30 AM by the time we settled down. On dot, in walked my MLA all of 32 years, dressed in jeans and a bush shirt, carrying a blackberry and a Nokia E72. All of us were not in yet!!! The MLA was in and we were not!!! He graciously understood the travails of Bengaluru traffic and with a smile told us he will be back the minute our last woman was in and left.
Immediately we were all served some hot tea. Extra chairs were laid out for the additional participants. In five minutes the MLA called in our spokesperson, who he later addressed by his first name all through the proceedings, and reviewed the agenda points. On our ‘all in’ signal he returned with the smile still in place. Also in attendance was one of his staff, the concerned tehsildar and the corporation official – impressive.
The MLA had on his finger tips the progress on all matters we raised with him. He gave us copies of documents showing progress on say, the survey order for the lake which is the first step for restoration. He specified milestones and introduced his staff who will constantly follow up on the projects. We, the people, could any time check progress with him. He promised to bring the CM to the lake in ten days because such a visit will give added impetus to our efforts.
He attended to a couple of personal grievances also with positive outlook. He met with each one individually and cracked a few good jokes. The whole atmosphere was energetic.
In the end I was told by those I accompanied that this guy was a go getter and had already done much for the constituency including reclaiming another big lake.
There is yet redemption.
