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. Some follow Hinduism, some follow Islam, and some follow Christianity but we follow YSRism.
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 and on top of it, he worked tirelessly to move the state forward, not leaving the poor behind. 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 us without a thought of this great man and a tear falling from our eyes. His life shows us how to value family, friendships, people and the country. He was he only Chief Minister of any state in our memory to have taken his wife to swearing in ceremony both times. He was looked up on as a great brother, son, father and grandfather by his followers. He never hesitated to stand up for what he believed in. There are politicians everywhere in the world but only a few leaders existed. One of the tallest is our Jananetha Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy. We are all proud to have lived in the same time as he lived. We, the ardent followers of YSR will observe his Pradhama Vardhanthi and celebrate his life. We all cried for a year and now the time has come for us all to start celebrating his life and legacy. No tears any more. We all will commemorate his life and experiences all across the US and other countries, where ever Telugus live. The best way to commemorate his life is to follow what he preached and followed - compassion, commitment, caring, and carefree attitude.
As it would be difficult for us in the foreign lands to celebrate on the same day for work reasons, we will devote the second weekend of July for Jayanthi and first weekend of every September for Vardhanthi to celebrate the life of YSR with our families in a grand way. This makes our great leader in the heaven proud, as he always valued his family and friends beyond any stretch of imagination. We, the NRIs do not find time for most of casual things normally but to celebrate YSR Jayanthi and observe YSR Vardhanthi, people across all walks of life here is something that never happened with any other leader from India as well as America. Very, very special man like YSR can command and deserves this kind of commemoration.
All of the cities across the United States of America and most major cities across the world are observing YSR Vardhanthi. Prominent among them are Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Raleigh, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, NJ/NY, Philadelphia, Delaware, Washington DC/Virginia/Maryland, Boston, Bay Area, Richmond, St Louis, Detroit, Chicago, Florida, besides Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Germany, France, Canada, Kuwait, Dubai, and South Africa. This celebration of life and legacy of Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy is completely voluntary and every one of us is doing it with lot of enthusiasm.
Jananetha, Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy may not be present physically today but he will always be with us emotionally and we will not forget him till we breathe last. This is our promise to the man we loved like he belongs to each and every one of us. He was not just another leader, just like Niagara Falls is not just another waterfalls!
Amar Rahe YSR
Gurava Reddy, Atlanta, [email protected]
