Wind of Change

I am leaving the chronological order of my narration now. For certain stories need to be told in the present.

Out of the Monastiraki train station Athens looks like any other city. Much more vibrant of course than an average European one.The Monastiraki square is always full. The colours and noises from the nearby Athens flea market spill out into the street.

If you look distinctly foreign, and moreover confused, you are invariably accosted by a trickle of peddlers and help-mongers.Each city has a rhythm of its own- a pattern amidst the chaos, that it slowly reveals to you as you pace its streets. And nothing seemed amiss in Athens.

"Inspiration for the € symbol itself came from the Greek epsilon – a reference to the cradle of European civilization – and the first letter of the word Europe, crossed by two parallel lines to ‘certify’ the stability of the Euro."
-The European Commission

On the second night of my stay, I got out for an aimless night time stroll. The straight line from my hostel took me to the Syntagma square- the power seat of the Greek government. There is a change of guards every hour till late into the night at the square. Ibrahim, my hotel receptionist had recommended that I watch it once. As I approached the square I started to hear distinct voices of speech and music amplified through microphones. From across the road pavilions and tents could be seen. A crowd around a hundred had gathered around a speaker. All around the square banners were raised, which were, well, literally all Greek to me.

From what I heard before coming the protests that shook Greece the week before had gradually lost their strength and momentum. So I moved to the pavilions with the most frequent question I have made during these travels. "Do you speak English?"

"You want to know what is happening? The truth is none of us know what is happening exactly. But we know we have to protest". Kiriakose is a middle aged painter. Small and thin with wispy hair, he wears a constant, rather satirical, smile. Kiriakose said that what we have already heard many a times. The Greeks did not want the burden of debts piled over them by the IMF and the other European Union Partners. They do not want their salaries cut and pensions withdrawn."This square is the seat of political power and we are claimimg it"."We talked of other things too. A fan of the old Hindi movies, he talked of beautiful and tall (hmmpf!) Indian women, especially of Nargis with Nostalgia. Like in India, in Greece also they celebrated and loved tragedies, he said."The movement is degrading.We are heading towards another tragedy.

But Kiriakose's bleak view of the future is not shared by the more politically vibrant youth at the square. They expressed hope that the government will be down in no time. The numerous instances of police brutality shows that the state is worried. "For me the whole movement was about finding my 'self'. It is a time of self evaluation", says Diya. Diya is an organiser and stays with the art pavilion in the square.The Pan Hellenistic Socialist Party and its elected leaders are as non- socialist as they could be. However bringing them down is no the end to the struggle. Diya says that at present there is no political party that is socialist or left in its credentials. So if the Papandreou government comes down, what is the alternative? "Well.." Diya pauses.

The absence of official parties at the square was visible. However,among the seemingly disparate unconnected groups of people there has emerged a clear pattern of organisation. Like the artist pavilion that Diya frequents, there are tents of different professionals. The doctors have formed a first aid pavilion and that was the first to be attacked in the government backlash last week. "When there is a small incident where one or two protestors lose their patience, the police uses it as an excuse to attack.", says Christos. Christos is an engineer. Since the protests began he has been working with media co- ordination and transmission. A dedicated group of media professionals are working to bring the real news to the people, within Greece and abroad. There is live streaming through the radio channel Entasi fm. They were eager to give me the web links and apologised for not having all the material available in English*.

The government policies have been in this direction for quite a while now. What then led to this sudden surge in action? "How did it all start?" "Well, I would like to call it a miracle, " smiles Christos, "but there is a story." Months back when the protests were gaining momentum in Spain, some one raised a banner there 'Greeks, you are in worse shape than us. Why is it that you are still asleep?' A few people who saw the banner, started talking about it through the different online social networks and one day they decided to come to the square. "After, we never left."

Support comes from unexpected quarters. The Greek orthodox church, or rather some of the clergy have been particularly supportive. In Greece you see priests in long black beards black caps and loose garbs all over. The chants from the orthodox churches are particularly reminiscent of the Syrian orthodox churches in Kerala. One of these black beards was severely beaten up a few weeks back. But he still hangs around the square." You must have seen him. He is there upstairs near the parliament." Christos is rather a romantic. He talked of bringing back direct democracy of the ancient city states. He talked of how the once depressed and tired faces of the Greeks have transformed into those that radiates hope ever since the protests started.

But, as the days pass the organisers are finding it difficult to maintain the momentum of the protests. In comparison to the massive mobilisations of the past weeks, the Syntagma square seems tired and sleepy now. The official records show that on a particular day of mobilisation over 250000 people purchased the metro ticket to reach Syntagma. Now voices of anxiousness and frustration could be heard among the protestors. "I think those of us who are still here are the real protestors. Others have all left for summer vacations. They were never serious about all this." says a slightly drunk young man in pony tail sitting down beside me on the ground near the pavilion for International Co- ordination . But others recognise the governmental strategy behind this. Protests are no longer second nature to the Greeks and they are used to their comforts. So the government calculated that once the summer vacations come the exhausted protestors would choose the comfort of a vacation spot rather than stay back in the sweltering heat of Athens.(Athenian summers by the way are almost as bad as those in Delhi and many times more humid. I am almost the colour of coal tar now and seems to have developed a rather nasty heat allergy!)

I left the square that night with mixed feelings.I have lived in Portugal for an year. the country is in almost as bad a shape as Greece.But somehow I cannot imagine anything of this duration or dimension from its citizens. But perhaps the people are tired. Perhaps the protests are really dying out.The next day I took a turn away from Syntagma to visit the temple of Olympian Zeus. I could hear loud voices and honking of cars as I walked back. Further down the road I saw that the principal street leading to Syntagma was blocked by hundreds of yellow taxi cabs. The drivers got out of the cars sloganeering. On one side a heated argument was on between a private car owner who insisted that he pass and the protestors. The protestors forced him back to his car and turned him back the way he came. The police cars were parked vertically across the streets to prevent the protestors from advancing into the political centre. There were loud popping noises like those of tear gas shells.As I watched the crowd broke into a song. It was clear strong and loud and in perfect unison. And even though in Greek I understood what they were singing this time "The people united shall always be victorious..."

*http://www.real-democracy.gr/en
http://www.entasifm.org/