If the Aam Aadmi Party's national strategy is to ride the personal brand worth of known faces from across the spectrum—civil society activists, bankers, industrialists, corporate gurus—then they have a winner in Mumbai. Not many debutant politicians can boast of the visibility that professor Sandeep Desai enjoys -- most of the 40 lakh aam aadmis who take the suburban railways everyday know him, several lakhs have chatted with him and, crucially, thousands have trusted him enough to give him their money.
Desai is the slight man with a backpack and a plastic donation box who talks to lakhs of office-goers on board local trains every single day, asking them to donate money to his charitable organisation Shloka, which runs four schools in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. He collects anywhere in the vicinity of Rs 3,000 a day, all of which is directed towards the operation of Shloka's schools -- two in rural Rajasthan, one in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district and another in Sindhudurg. (A fifth one is to start soon in Ratnagiri.)
Professor Sandeep Desai.
Desai, 53, says he first spoke to Arvind Kejriwal well over a year ago, during the Anna Hazare agitation in Bandra Kurla Complex, when he received a call from Kejriwal's PA. The then Hazare associate was looking for Indians committed to a cause who would also join the struggle against corruption. More meetings followed and, on Tuesday, he formally joined the Aam Aadmi Party.
Ask the former professor of marketing whether politics and education really mix and he agrees that it's a bold step. "A lot of people, strangers, some wearing the Aam Aadmi cap and others too, have been telling me when they meet me in the train to join the Aam Aadmi Party," Desai says. "Those who can make a change should join the party," they believe. In spite of that, and despite the fact that AAP had already made overtures to him, he never fancied a career in politics.
He took the plunge this week after great thought. "I do follow politics in the country, and specifically the nexus of politicians and educational institutions," he says. The extent of data the Mumbai team of AAP has gathered against politicians including those who have amassed land and money in the name of education impressed him and he felt he could play his part in the struggle.
A former member of the Forum for Fairness in Education, Desai was chief mover of several public interest litigations against politician-led educational institutes including for unfair fees and more.
In fact, it was in court that he resolved to run a different kind of school. During hearings for a PIL on unfair charges levied by a Mumbai college, a judge asked him, "Professor, have you ever run a school?" He didn't know if it was an admonishment or a suggestion, but he took it as a challenge. "I haven't yet sir, I replied, but I will one day. And they will be run totally free of charge -- that's what I told the judge."
Education is the cause he is closest to, he is quite clear about that. "Vidya daan shreshtha daan aahe (donating for education is the highest form of charity)" he repeats to commuters as he walks through compartments, carrying laminated cuttings of newspaper reports about his work. No sum is too small, those interested in finding out more about Shloka's schools are welcome to call, check the organisation's website or just engage in a more detailed conversation.
Desai says he has no idea what role he will be required to play as elections draw closer, and whether he may be asked to contest as a highly visible Mumbaiite, but adds that he is open to any kind of service to the party and the people. His four years talking to strangers in local trains have led to unexpected career moves -- Desai is now also a motivational speaker in colleges where he presents his 'In Pursuit Of Happiness' seminar. He has also cultivated a rare courage. There are plenty of obstructionists in the trains, he says, who try to stop him, call him a fraud, threaten to physically stop him from seeking donations. "I've learnt to deal with all kinds of people. And there are many more Indians who will come forward to support a good cause and to tell such people to back off if they can't support one."
He has now begun to tell people on the trains to join AAP, but without giving them forms or doing anything more persuasive. "If I have to campaign on the trains, I will keep aside the fund-raising work for Shloka for four months," he says. "I don't want to mix the two."
Once picked up by the Railway Police Force for begging, Desai says there are actually scores of RPF men who have helped him. At least three station masters have in fact suggested that he join AAP.
What is his assessment of the so-called AAP wave, especially in Mumbai? "It's difficult to replicate the Delhi success," he reasons. "There, Kejriwal was leading from the front. But apart from that, the money power in Maharashtra is greater than in politics anywhere else in the country." Still, early surveys have indicated that AAP could win one out of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai. "I am pretty confident that I can help win another -- people do recognise me."
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