Mumbai Mania

Fires are rising one after another and one is already feeling the heat.Intolerence is growing and mutinies multiplying .Ahmedabad, Delhi,Bangalore,Assam,Hyderabad,Jaipur,Mumbai…..and NOW WHAT???

Yes , I am writing to you about the recent Mumbai attacks which have stunned not only the country but also the world. The attacks which have shaken the faith of millions of lives.

 I recently visited the commercial capital of India. It was my first visit. As I stepped down the train , dialogues from famous bollywood movies started ringing in my ears. My first impression of this city was that it has its own charm. The old architecture is not replaced by the modern buildings like how it has in other metropolitan cities. The people you see  are in a hurry, hurry to go to work, hurry to get back home , hurry to prove a point. Crowds moving in different directions. People selling pirated DVD’s to Camera ‘s to PSP’s to fake Nike caps. Right from the Queens Necklace to Haji Ali to Breach Candy to Chowpati ,this city can charm anyone with its winsome setup. As the night progresses me too like any college going student headed to this pub called Leopold on Colaba street .Amongst the helter-skelter there , my friend pointed his finger towards the bullet holes on the ceiling. For a second everything paused ,then it occurred to me………Nothing, Absolutely Nothing could deter the faith of its people here. Even after  a series of natural as well as manmade attacks on this magnetic city there seems to be something which can just keep them going no matter what. They seem to forget the hurt too soon.

First the floods, then the blasts at railways stations and then the most recent ones. It was unbelievable hoe people were just shot. The cruelty seemed to have no bounds.Everytime something like this happens we stick to the television sets for hours and then there is a discussion which follows with families, friends,  peers etc.The mourning is just for a day or two and then there are these “light the candles for the brave ‘’shows on popular TV news channels which organize them to increase TRP ratings. Then follows the Ashok Chakra for martyr’s who were killed in the terrorist attacks.6 awards, all posthumous recipients !Looks like you need to die to receive the highest civilian bravery award of the country. What I ‘d like to question is weren’t the staff of Taj brave who kept serving the guests until the chefs in the kitchen were dead?Was’nt the announcer at the V.T . Station brave who kept shouting Danger  over  the  speaker even after he was shot? These are the people who did their duty until their last breath and the government refuses to acknowledge any of them.

  

People were angry, I was .Weren’t you? But what could I have been done. Absolutely nothing!!Which tore me apart. I am sure this is the same feeling of millions of other people in our country  . Frustration ,     Disgust,Repugnance,a sense of helplessness. Whom do we blame??The horrendous terrorists, our fat bellied politicians, our ineffective system, Ourselves?

I say its ourselves ,because we chose to forget the tragedy comfortingly saying to ourselves ‘’ We are Indians, our spirit is a never say die one ,no matter what happens we still wake up each morning ,go to work, come back and pretend as though nothing has happened’’.We continue to blame the government, political parties even without exercising our right to caste a vote. We are taught to love our neighbors as we love ourselves but we easily forget this principle in the entanglement of everyday activites.We are stripped of basic decencies and broad ideals and are getting fractured around narrow groups,vested interests  and petty loyalties.

 But in the end  a Mother lost her son, a daughter her Father ,a wife her husband ,a girl a brother and our country its citizen…….