FB to FC road: website brings office-goers to hazare stir

Many working professionals leave office early after learning of anti-corruption agitation on Facebook

FB to FC road: website brings office-goers to hazare stir

Many working professionals leave office early after learning of anti-corruption agitation on Facebook

Would you ask your boss to allow you to leave early because you are participating in a street protest? This could have given you the pink slip a few months ago, but the Anna Hazare fever that has gripped the city has prompted working professionals to ask this question and leave offices early to ensure that they contribute their bit to the nationwide anti-corruption movement.

United we stand: Anna Hazare supporters form a human chain on FC
Road. Pics/Krunal Gosavi

An impromptu human chain was formed by 400 people on FC Road yesterday, from 5 pm to 7.30 pm.

Many of them had got wind of the protest on social networking site Facebook.

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Amruta Ubale (25), a businesswoman, said that she usually finishes work at her home around 7.30 pm but decided to come to FC Road after messages of the event went viral on Facebook. "Everyone was responding positively and reached the venue on time. There are also people who are fasting at the Balgandharva venue, among them top-notch corporate executives," she said. Deepti Kotnis (26), an executive with a construction company, also said that she finishes work by 8 pm but finished the pending work early for the protests.

"I was planning to join the rallies since a long time but heavy workload didn't permit me. Today I decided to finish work by 4.30 pm and reached FC Road by 5 pm," she said. "I think everyone should take time off from their busy schedules at least once and be a part of this national movement."u00a0 While most people were from the city, some had come from as far as Lonavla after they heard about the protest.

Maulik Bhat (30), an executive with a film production company, said that he postponed his meetings just to participate in the human chain.u00a0"Cinema is an important medium of spreading social messages and this is what prompted me to be a part of Anna's movement," he said. Ajay Welingkar (27), a BPO employee, said that Facebook prompts most young working professionals to participate wherever protests are taking place.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels