It’s tough to pass up an opportunity to express yourself, especially in a situation like now, when everyone wants to speak up.
On 26th November terrorist attacks occurred in the Taj hotel, the Oberoi Trident, Nariman house and CST station. The attacks ended on 29th when Indian security forces, in Operation Black Tornado, regained control of the attack sites.
I chose to stay shut about this incident because nothing I say matters. I can stand in the sidelines and go on talking about it, cowering in the shadows because all I can do is talk.
It’s not a challenge to get me emotion or feel gooseflesh at any show of respect or patriotism to India. I’ve had tears in my eyes in movie theatres during the National Anthem.
I was at the protest march on December 3rd at the Gateway of India, where more than ten thousand Mumbaikars came out on the streets. That's where I took that picture from. There were people waving flags, lighting candles, shouting slogans but the only thing that made me feel anything was the sight of the commandos. A huge rush of pride.
Like everyone else, I watched the news those 3 days with dread. I prayed for those held hostage and I cheered for our cops. But I’m not angry, I’m not screaming for action and I couldn’t care less about old retards retiring.
What I do want out of this, is for our cops to be better equipped with guns, and arms and bullet-proof vests that function and are effective. We can not still be using lathis in this day and age. I want India’s security and defence to be top-notch, after this terror-filled year we’ve had.
If this large scale meeting is of any use and has any impact, I’m not too positive.
I went there, I jostled through the crowds, I saw the gateway, I prayed in the direction of the Taj (which was my reason to go) and then came home. If my doing this is going to matter, if my doing this with a thousand others is going to matter, I don’t think so. I’ve seen and moved on from many other terror attacks in this city and country to believe that we have truly woken up. Woken up enough to not press snooze button again.
I think I heard ‘enough is enough’, ‘it’s time we act’ during the Mumbai train blasts and sometime before as well. Anybody still care to know what the situation in Assam is like?
And the next time someone mentions the ‘spirit of Mumbai’ even near me, they are getting knocked in the head with a chair. There is no such thing as the spirit of Mumbai. People go back to work, no matter what happens, because they have to. People survive on daily wages here; Mumbai couldn’t afford to stay home, scared.
People have short-term memories. People have lives, they go back to. And people have no clue how to channelize their anger.
Protest marches, peace marches, rallies, charities and donations will all fade away in a while, the fervor will die out and we will all go back to our problems, our celebrations, and our own drama series. Until the next time, some other people lose their lives.
And I’m not trying to be cynical.
what u wrote is true, but spirit of mumbai is there . yes it is not what its portrayed to be but come on there is something about us, we the people are different . u mite say that we take all in our stride or maybe we dont have a channels to show our protest , yes i agree. but also look into the lives of people like us who dont survive on daily wages dint we let ourselves out the day attacks ended, u dnt find that in other cities of the world dear. there is a spirit, itz just that it is not like the way we thought it to be.
ReplyDeleteHEY THIS REALLY MAKES LOT OF SENSE..GOOD1!
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