Or whatever else you may believe in - Country.. Religion.. Race.. Stop this nonsense. It is uncalled for. There's nothing... Absolutely NOTHING that can justify these acts of callous, barbaric, merciless acts of terrorism.
In the last five days I experienced shock, despair, frustration, disgust, anger, horror, shame, hurt, helplessness and sadness. All in extremes. So much that more than once it made me cry out of all these emotions that, until now, I never experienced together in a span of a week, let alone a day.
I heard myself thinking what's wrong with our eyes that a group of men can boldly walk into our streets and stations and cinemas and hotels loaded with ammunition and start firing bullets recklessly at innocent people around them and we come to know only when the gunshots continue for longer than 5 minutes. Is it that easy to conceal ammunition? Or do we suffer from the delusion that we are indestructible? Or is it simply a side effect of the "tolerance" that we, as a country, as so famous for?
I heard myself and my friends blaming the government. At their inefficiency in preventing the situation as well as in controlling it. At their incapability to provide security to the people they are elected to rule. At the lack of brains that they display with such insensitivity that it doesn't pinch them before making comments like "
such things happen". At the lack of guts and spine that they display by submitting their resignations as their only way of accepting their failure. Does it not occur to them to stay and fight back and make sure that they bring the guilty to task and that their country and people don't have to face such terror again?
I heard myself cursing and damning the terrorists. I heard myself wishing the worst on people who masterminded and executed the attacks. The one in Mumbai as well as all others that India has gone through in recent times. What do these people want? When will they stop? Can't they see how wrong and futile this is? Aren't they humans too? Can't we do anything to stop them once and for all?
I heard myself muttering a "Thank God" after hearing that everyone I know in Mumbai is safe. And that their friends and families are safe too. (Thank God) As if it will somehow make the blow that we just received a little better. It still makes me feel like a hypocrite. This is not how I am.
I used to believe that what we need to do is to educate people. Once they realize there's more to life than fighting for petty differences like whose God is better, maybe we'll see the end of such wars. Maybe if people realize that there is so much more to channel their energies and ideas towards, we'll see more nations progressing - not just scientifically and economically but also morally. I used to believe that education and work would gradually replace religions and Gods all over the world.
Apparently I was wrong.
Suddenly I don't know what to believe, whom to trust anymore. Any face - young or old, could be carrying weapons that could put people like you and me in danger anytime, anywhere.
But somehow, somewhere inside my heart I don't want to think me or my loved ones could be at the mercy of any such inhuman souls. Borrowing from Godfather - it insults my intelligence. And hence, I keep believing in the strength that we derive from our ability to think straight. From our capacity to tell the right from wrong. But most importantly, from our desire to live with the respect and dignity that we deserve. And hence, I also believe that there IS something that we can do. All systems and societies that we talk about are made of people like us. The people who are trying to rip us apart also come from similar systems. They are not any stronger or more advanced or more capable than we are. It's time for us to get together and shout back - ENOUGH!
~K.
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I wish media would stop talking about "The Mumbai spirit". The spirit is undeniable. It's real. Mumbai will be back up on it's feet again. As it always has. But is that the point?
All Indians who are reading this and will be in India during the elections, please make sure you cast your vote. Register yourselves at Jaagore.com. It's a wonderful site that will give all registered users alerts about the election dates and polling venues based on the constituencies that they are in. It also gives extensive information about our election process, our government structure, the responsibilities of the elected representatives at various levels and a lot of other useful stuff that we might have read about in our Civics classes in school, but didn't care enough to understand then. Now is the time to revise it all.
Everyone, and I mean Everyone - please be a little more alert and aware about your surroundings. If there are security restrictions set up in your area of residence or work or recreation - please comply with them. Make their jobs and your lives a little easier. The underground subways in New York city have these posters in the stations and in the trains - "If you see something, say something." Let's follow that ourselves. Between paranoid and dead, what do you think is the better option?
To the innocent victims of those attacks - I'm sorry this had to happen to you. It was not fair. There's nothing that I can say or do that'll make things easier for your families. But I pray for them and you as I do for my own and me. God bless us all. Amen.
~K.
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What can we do? Here's what some people say -
Parul- She's linked to a few sites and posts herself... Do check those out too.
Mumbaihelps- Some links in this blog as well... Check
this for example.
Stop Terrorism- Please! And don't forget to register.
Stay safe!
