Power of one

One. Zero upgraded to the meaningful. One, the tick of the metronome. One adding up to two. Infinitely, till the zeroes blur. The Power of One. The affirmation of individual strength.
Mahatma Gandhi, battling the British not with guns, but the spirit of non-violence.
Mother Teresa, reaching out to the poorest of the poor, celebrating the power of love over self.
Sunderlal Bahuguna, hugging the beautiful trees of the mountains, to create an environmental campaign called Chipko.
One, raised to the power of infinity.
Saturday''s newspaper photographs of our Lok Ayukta, Justice N Venkatachala, looking at bloodied corpses strewn on the floor of the Victoria Hospital''s morgue and saying, ``This is an insult to the human race.''''
For years, the media has reported on the primitive, nauseating, perverse, disgusting, callous, inhuman conditions that prevail in this morgue, filled with dissected corpses of victims of accidents, suicides, murder... but no one in authority, has done anything to improve matters.
The Lok Ayukta''s surprise visit might yet help change the situation.
In a world of cynicism, Venkatachala''s singular fight against corruption and inefficiency is akin to Cervantes'' Don Quixote tilting against windmills. But now, more than ever, we seek not just a Quixote, but a faithful Sancho Panza as well.
Elsewhere, there''s BDA Commissioner Jayakar Jerome, fearless in the face of law suits and threats, ridding the City of illegal constructions.
It is the courage of such individuals that heralds change.
Ramesh Ramanathan, chucking up a successful career at Citibank to return to home city Bangalore, to plan and launch Janaagraha, a citizen''s initiative, that''s snipping away at bureaucratic red-tape and political banality, to bring in accountability and a say in the developmental process of residential areas.
Many stories, yet in essence the same.
That when a man or a woman stands up for what is right, he or she sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, that builds up into towering waves of energy and daring, that help transform the old order into the new.