Faith in our elected representatives increases manifold when they respond to us promptly, even if their reply may be in the negative.
Getting a quick hearing by our representatives is in itself a matter of pride for we people of the world's largest democracy. Few days back I experienced this, and it was really very encouraging.
I have been selected for the 2015 Jagriti Yatra (JY), a 15-day, 8000 km long train journey with an aim to build India through enterprise. Organized by a non-governmental organization Jagriti Seva Sansthan, the Yatra's mission is "to nurture 1 Lakh entrepreneurs by 2022 and create 10 Lakh jobs in this process."
It provides a platform for the youth to meet and interact with change makers, social and business entrepreneurs of the country. Yatris are selected based on their application scores and the deserving candidates are also given part/full sponsorship as per their scores.
My application got selected and I got a part sponsorship.
To ask if there was any fund at the disposal of the Member of Parliament of my constituency, Palakkad (Kerala), I messaged my MP MB Rajesh in WhatsApp.
In less than ten minutes I received a reply from him!
Though he said that there wasn't any fund which could be allotted for this purpose, the fact that my MP was so accessible, even through WhatsApp, encouraged me and strengthened by faith in our Democracy.
What made me feel even more great was the man's humility. "Really sorry that I could not help you," he said in his reply!
Belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), MB Rajesh had comfortably retained his MP seat for the second consecutive term in the 2014 General Elections. During his first term in the 16th Lok Sabha he was praised by many for having secured 95% attendance in the Parliament, and also for having secured a second place in terms of the number of debates participated.
May people of his tribe proliferate! Jai Hind!
Disclaimer: MB Rajesh does not have my phone number nor does he know me; in my message I introduced myself stating that I am a person from his constituency. Nor am I a member of the CPI(M), the party to which he belongs.