The greatest and grandest leader of our Andhra Pradesh Jananetha YS Rajasekhara Reddy had lost his life while going to Rachabanda program to serve the people in an accident and is no longer with us today. He was the symbol of statesmanship, administration, and compassion for poor. His legend grew with each passing day, ever since he entered politics at the age of 28 in 1978 and straight away became an MLA.
After being a key minister in successive governments, he went in to political wilderness for a few years. But never did he leave the hearts of the masses. They adored him either he is in power or not. Hero worship of YSR grew to such an extent that people would feel to be honored to be present in his public meetings. Most families keep his photo on their walls, along with deities. All villages, towns and cities have his multiple statues and named their streets and junctions in his name. People love him, more than their own siblings, lot of times. He earned each and every heart and soul with his heart and soul. He does not have a caste, a creed or a religion. He belongs to each and every one of us. We all miss him dearly. But his image does not leave our minds and hearts.
There was never a leader like him and there will never be one like him. He was unique and matchless. When Amitab Bachan was ruling Hindi films, he was ranked one to ten and 11th was Jitendra. Same thing is true in Andhra Pradesh politics. He is heads and shoulders above every other politician that ever gotten in to public conscience. With the state in disarray now, people miss him even more. If only YSR was alive, is the most made statement in the state now. He was ready to reign for the next five year and years after but the fate had been cruel to us.
YSR walked in and out of our lives leaving fondest memories. He endeared us with his great smile and his compassion for poor, farmers and rest of the society. He was the greatest leader of the masses and will be remembered by one and all for generations to come. Even though he left us physically, he remains forever deeply etched in our memories, lives and thoughts. A day would not go by for most of without a thought of this great man and a tear falling from our eyes. His life is a way that can show us how to value family, friendships, people and the country. He was looked up on as a great brother, son, father and grandfather by his followers. We are all proud to have lived in the same time as he lived. We, the ardent followers and fans of YSR should observe his pradhama Vardhanthi and celebrate his life. We should all commemorate his life and experiences all across the US and other countries, where ever Telugus exist.
As it would be difficult for us in the foreign lands to celebrate on the same day for work reasons, we should devote the second Saturday of every July for to celebrate the life of YSR with our families in a public park like setting as a picnic. This makes our great leader in the heaven proud, as he always valued his family and friends beyond any stretch of imagination.
The cities that are already planning to observe YSR Vardhanthi are Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Raliegh, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, NJ/NY, Philadelphia/Delaware, Washington DC/Virginia/Maryland, Boston, Bay Area, St Louis, Detroit, Chicago, and Florida. We will post the local contact information of three to five persons and the location of the event on CelebrateYSR.org and have the information scrolling on SakshiTV, TV9, and NTV. The videos and pictures from all these Vardhanthi would be consolidated and produced as a DVD and an album to be exhibited on local channels in Andhra Pradesh as well as a link on CelebrateYSR.org for the followers to download and burn on to their DVDs.
Gurava Reddy, Atlanta
