For some it was yet another blast (or was it something else!) as a friend casually says it has been long since there were blasts! (long??? It ain't a Shah Rukh Khan movie).
For some it is a butt of their joke, as a a freshie looks at AN Roy on television and says 'Arey isko nahi maara kya??' followed by a smirk of triumph.
While for others it was one those precious moments wherein they can happily flaunt about how lucky they are, not to be a Mumbaiite!
While for most of us it was time to come up with the much cliché'd lines “Patil must resign.” “UPA sucks.” “What the hell is the govt upto?” “These cowardly bastards.” blah blah blah.
Well for me it was pretty much the same, frustration and anger out of the death of those innocent people with whom I used to share a city with. People who survive the one of the worst living conditions in the world (be it train travel, peak time rush or the crumbling infrastructure) to just survive, live and may be if the city gives them a chance, prosper. Those hundred dead citizens on whom lives of more than a thousand depended and who were near and dear to thousands of others. People don't deserve to die waiting for their train at CST after hard day's work by bullets fired by the so called fidayeen.
For me it was not only running through the above lines, swearing at the pakis, then the govt., then us people... as usual but this time around a bit more. It was not a blast, it was a few mad men prowling the city armed with heavy ammunition and modern weaponry. You never never know when a bullet whooshes past you and you are dead.
For me it was seeing the same places that I have been to many times smeared in blood. For me its the fear that all these happen a few miles from my home.
How can a group of ten terrorist hold a the financial capital of the country to ransom?? What was the govt doing?? Could it possibly have done something to stop it?? What did those 125 do to deserve such a death?? Will this incident make any difference in the govt policy?? there are thousand more questions of such kind! Which probably nobody can answer. Well I am not searching for answers either.
But life always limps back to normalcy within hours. Its one of the finest examples mumbaiites set to to the world as they send a clear message to the terrorists: “Do whatever, Life ain't gonna stop here!” The terror attacks on the city all through the years costed hundreds of lives but failed in their primary motive : terrorizing the people.
While talking to dad yesterday I had a feeling of deja vu of the morning of 12th July 2006 -- I had evidently failed in my attempt to keep my Dad from going to office, barely hours after the infamous 7/11 train bombings . Just before leaving he turns towards me and says “Be proud! You are a Mumbaiite.”
You bet I am!
Shailesh R Nadar.
1:52 pm, Nov 28, 2008.
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