A View From Outside...

Its been more than 60 hours now and the siege over the Taj seems to have ended. I did not want to blog about anything but this certainly made me change my mind. To say that it did not affect me would be an outright lie. But to also claim that I can understand what an ordinary Mumbaikar is going through, would again be a lie.
For most of us outside Mumbai, it was three days of television drama which even the perverse show like Big Boss cannot match. I'm talking about my friends and many of the people I know here. Everybody condemned it and made some politically correct statements. But none admitted that it did not make any difference to their lives. Which for a fact, is true.
The conversation was something like this..
Me: "Did you hear about the attacks??"
Friend: "Haan..In Mumbai."
Me: "I was shocked!!"
Friend: "Yeah, me too( makes a sad face)."
Another Friend: "What attacks?"
Me:(flabbergasted) "You don't know!?"
AF: " No, I did not watch the news, nor did I read the paper."
Me:(trying to control my anger-I don't know why I was angry) " There were terror attacks in Mumbai"
Af:(Totally aghast)" Omg! Really?!"
By this time the lecturer had entered and the conversation could not proceed any further. The lecturer came in and went on with the lecture like a zombie and we just sat and stared. All the while I was thinking about the latest developments in Mumbai but my friends did not share the same anxiety. After a while I forgot about it too. We went about making fun of the lecturers, smsing funny msgs, singing and pulling each others legs.
It was so easy to forget about it.
"How do you motivate people to agitate when they have no personal connection to the atrocity?" Another question which I asked myself after letting go a bit of the anger, " Who am I to question people's ability to move on despite such heinous acts of terror?" I'll share a bit of the mail that my project guide wrote to me from Mumbai

"you are dot right, about indifference and "spirit". most of us are complete cowards (myself included). there is no dignity in such deaths; the only commendable thing people do is not abstain from their work but forge right ahead the very next day. whether out of necessity or defiance, the motives can be different."

Somewhere, deep down, I know that this doesn't affect me much. But I refuse to accept it. I remember feeling like an idiot when I was walking down the streets of Hyderabad with a placard in my hands condemning the blasts, a year ago. I was constantly experiencing mixed emotions, emotions of pride, foolishness and hopelessness of it all. People had gathered there for different motives. Some were like me, others wanted to come on TV and claim their 15 minutes of fame. Some others had come because their friends were there and they did not want to look bad in front of them by their absence.
Yes,people are different and each has his or her own agenda. But what the situation demands, is to forge those differences and find a common platform.

Mumbai will bounce back for sure. But this time it has to make sure that this never ever happens again. The true spirit of any city does not lie in being able to get back to normalcy, it lies in being able to move on and annihilate those sources which caused so much agony.
A brave NSG commando said," Hamare liye kuch mushkil nahi hai.." with a smile on his face. It brought a tear to my eye. I salute all those bravehearts and I sing a silent prayer for Mumbai.

"Whether or not a terrorist should be forgiven, should be left to God but fixing their appointment with God is our responsiblity." -Indian Army. AMEN.