How GenNext drives home message

Twenty-six year old Shaleen Mitra quit his plush job at an apparel company to hit the trail of rural India to explain to the masses about Anna's campaign and the significance of the Jan Lokpal Bill. He has already toured scores of villages in Haryana, UP, Delhi. Mitra , an MBA, was a senior executive with the company. One day, he suddenly decided to give it up for Mission Anna. He is one of the several young members of Team Anna, who are the driving force behind the anticorruption campaign.

"I have been associated with the movement since November. In June, I decided to accompany the team to villages and explain to the people about our movement. We would tour seven villages a day and cover over 70 areas where we mobilize villagers. There would be innumerable queries on the Lokpal Bill. And our mission was to educate them," he said.

Delhi University third-year student Karan Sachdeva has kicked off the movement at the college level.
"I sat on a fast outside my college on April 7. Many people came, wrote graffiti on the charts I put up. They scribbled messages in Anna's support. There is a need for awareness. And I am doing my bit," the 20-year-old said.

So, what motivates these young men and women to surrender their cushy existence to join the Anna brigade? Gaurav Bakshi, who is handling the social media cell of the movement says, "The cause is big enough. Anna is an inspiration and people have suffered long enough to suffer corruption any more. The youth is the backbone of the movement . It is a struggle that must be fought 24 hours a day. We have had students, doctors, engineers and management executives joining our movement . From crowd and media management to logistics like power, security and volunteer support, we have received spontaneous support. Reaching out through social media has helped us keep the movement alive." Gaurav is an NRI has now jumped into the Anna bandwagon.

The Lokpal anthem, written and composed by Nitin Dawar, is a manager with a private firm and an MBA graduate. Dawar and Siddharth Mohan kept the spirits high with their brimming energy.

Youth leader from Assam Akhil Gogoi, another core member of Team Anna, has a fiery approach. "Our freedom has been taken away and we must break the shackles with this second war of Independence."