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Small but Significant

This column, profiling achievers of Bangalore city whose popularity is not quite widespread, features this time a housewife who earned credit for herself and confidence for the people of her locality by sheer virtue of her organizing capabilities for a public cause.

Meet Ms.Rukmini (50), a typical middle class housewife living in a rented house in a locality off Magadi Road in Bangalore. Until last month, Rukmini was just one among the thousands of inhabitants of her area, but is a local celebrity today, thanks to her capabilities to mobilize people and orchestrate a united voice for the common good.

The date was Jan 14, 2000 and for Rukmini's son Vijay (23), a factory worker, it proved to be a fateful day. That day around 11 in the night, as he was returning from his second shift, Vijay met with a fatal accident caused by a gaping pothole on the road close to his home. This particular pothole, like many others in the 2 km stretch of the road on which it is formed, had indeed caused many serious injuries to vehicle riders before, but this was the first time that it caused a death.

A deeply anguished Rukmini never took things lying down, and immediately got to organise a serious mass protest against the apathy of the local government authorities. She had the full support of the people who had not only witnessed her son's tragic death, but had themselves been victims of the deadly condition of the roads in their area. They staged a peaceful but effective sit-in on the very road that claimed Vijay's life, bringing the traffic on it to a total halt for two full days. As the road happened to be a feeder road to a highway, the goods carriers operating on it particularly felt the impact of the strike.

Finally, Rukmini managed to get the local authorities to the scene of action and saw them not only apologizing profusely, but even effecting the necessary repair works right away.

Today, that potholed road has become a passage of delight to motorists and truck operators and they have never stopped thanking Rukmini for the initiative that she took to right a long-time wrong. Not just that and in fact, thanks to the prompt attention and spotlight given to the incident by local newspapers and TV channels, her name has become an inspiration today to many similarly aggrieved citizens in other areas of Bangalore. In recognition of her courage, commitment and concerns, a leading social institution of Bangalore has honoured Rukmini and offered her a responsible position with full financial support to motivate people in a small neighbourhood of Bangalore for community development work.


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