An Indian in Tahrir,relaying Egypt’s moment to the world

When he is not physically a part of the vigil at Tahrir,Kalyani is there virtually — organizing online forums,translating Arabic text into English for the world to read.

Son of a businessman who has been settled in Cairo for the past 18 years,Kalyani has grown up in the Egyptian capital. He decided to join the movement after scores of his college friends and colleagues marched to Tahrir on January 25,and has since been mobilizing others to join the mass uprising.

“There is a lot of confusion,a lot of noise. A lot of rumours that people have been paid to be at Tahrir. I have been clarifying that this is not about money. This is a page-turner in the history of Egypt,” says Kalyani.

Like most young Egyptians — even those not connected to the software business — Kalyani is extremely comfortable on virtual social forums,Twitter and Facebook. One of his most tangible recent contributions to the movement was to popularize pictures of seized ID cards in Tahrir,belonging to secret police personnel.

“The IDs hadn’t been tweeted about enough,so I pitched in,” says Kalyani. “People are getting a lot of secondhand opinions and ideas. My role is to give them something from the ground to base their opinions on.”

Kalyani identifies closely with Ghonim,who became the rallying point for thousands after his release yesterday. The two software executives have several common friends.

Sometimes,Kalyani’s family worries that he spends so much time at Tahrir. But Kalyani has no fear. “Tahrir is a place I go to get re-energised. It is a place where I rebuild hope. Out of Tahrir,I feel down and depressed,” he says.