Incident 1:
It was 6AM in the morning. A huge sound woke me up. Had I been in Chennai, I would have usually attributed such sound to one of the following
• Yet another transformer explosion
• A pressure cooker unable to keep up the pressure and bursting out
• A vehicle’s tire unable to stand the searing heat
• One of my mom’s strategies of waking me up to get me ready for temple visits
But I was in Mumbai and one’s mind maps such a sound to only one event. I slowly leaned over the window, expecting a frenzied crowd running around with hands on their heads. But proceedings were normal. Or has it become too normal that such incidents are a part of the life? I tried to go back to sleep cursing the genes, inherited from my Mom, which has given me this unparalleled ability of waking up to the teeniest of the noises.
Incident 2:
My friend emphasized that I should wait only at platform no 1 in Mumbai CST and not to move. I found myself a seat nearby platform no 1 and the wait began. Unfortunately, the location wasn’t a good choice. 10 feet away from where I was, a helmeted head was popping out of mini fort built out of sand bags. The commando was looking around intently and my curious glances at him didn’t help either. Our eyes met a few times and I shifted my eyes uncomfortably which led to his mad-eye-moody’s eye getting stuck on me. I breathed a sigh of relief when my friend finally showed up and I was thankful to get out of that place. I then realized that if I had stood, I wouldn’t have attracted so much attention. Nobody sits in Mumbai’s stations!
Incident 3:
CSK Vs DC - Semifinal Match 2 of IPL3. Unprecedented security. Mobile phones weren’t allowed inside. (How I managed to secure my phone during the entire course of the match will itself take an entire post. So let’s leave it there that I somehow managed it). I was frisked three times and twice quite ‘thoroughly’. Somehow, it spoils the whole fun of watching the match. You come across every security point saying ‘not again’.
Where am I going with this? Similar things have happened to me in New York as well and it didn’t affect me after a couple of times since I got used to it (quite frankly you are an alien there and a Karan Johar’s film will not change much). But this is my own country and I deserve to live to a fear-free life. I don’t want to be frisked when I get into a shopping mall or a movie. I don’t want to be arrested on suspicion if I spent too much time sitting on a crowded place. I want to use my gadgets anywhere I want (not in a flight though). I don’t want to worry about unattended bags in common places. I want to live not as a suspect in my own country.
The terrorists have been phenomenally successful in what they set out to do. Their intention is neither to kill people nor to cause damage; rather it is creating this uncertainty in our minds that no place is safe. Every time my parents call, on a closing note their words are always “don’t go to any place that is crowded”. After a terrorist attack, the shameless politicians applaud the people for how quickly they have come back to normal life. What else can the people do? Quit their jobs and get stuck in the house? Eat food of your own garden? Life will have to move on and it has to go on, but the psychological effects are immeasurable.
The sad part is that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Terrorism does not arise out of desire to kill, but due to dissatisfaction of one party which transforms to hate and hate to terrorism. To get their voices heard, they take violence as their channel of communication. And how do the governments across the world approach the problem? Kill more. Ha! The easy way out is the worst solution.
It was 6AM in the morning. A huge sound woke me up. Had I been in Chennai, I would have usually attributed such sound to one of the following
• Yet another transformer explosion
• A pressure cooker unable to keep up the pressure and bursting out
• A vehicle’s tire unable to stand the searing heat
• One of my mom’s strategies of waking me up to get me ready for temple visits
But I was in Mumbai and one’s mind maps such a sound to only one event. I slowly leaned over the window, expecting a frenzied crowd running around with hands on their heads. But proceedings were normal. Or has it become too normal that such incidents are a part of the life? I tried to go back to sleep cursing the genes, inherited from my Mom, which has given me this unparalleled ability of waking up to the teeniest of the noises.
Incident 2:
My friend emphasized that I should wait only at platform no 1 in Mumbai CST and not to move. I found myself a seat nearby platform no 1 and the wait began. Unfortunately, the location wasn’t a good choice. 10 feet away from where I was, a helmeted head was popping out of mini fort built out of sand bags. The commando was looking around intently and my curious glances at him didn’t help either. Our eyes met a few times and I shifted my eyes uncomfortably which led to his mad-eye-moody’s eye getting stuck on me. I breathed a sigh of relief when my friend finally showed up and I was thankful to get out of that place. I then realized that if I had stood, I wouldn’t have attracted so much attention. Nobody sits in Mumbai’s stations!
Incident 3:
CSK Vs DC - Semifinal Match 2 of IPL3. Unprecedented security. Mobile phones weren’t allowed inside. (How I managed to secure my phone during the entire course of the match will itself take an entire post. So let’s leave it there that I somehow managed it). I was frisked three times and twice quite ‘thoroughly’. Somehow, it spoils the whole fun of watching the match. You come across every security point saying ‘not again’.
The terrorists have been phenomenally successful in what they set out to do. Their intention is neither to kill people nor to cause damage; rather it is creating this uncertainty in our minds that no place is safe. Every time my parents call, on a closing note their words are always “don’t go to any place that is crowded”. After a terrorist attack, the shameless politicians applaud the people for how quickly they have come back to normal life. What else can the people do? Quit their jobs and get stuck in the house? Eat food of your own garden? Life will have to move on and it has to go on, but the psychological effects are immeasurable.
The sad part is that there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Terrorism does not arise out of desire to kill, but due to dissatisfaction of one party which transforms to hate and hate to terrorism. To get their voices heard, they take violence as their channel of communication. And how do the governments across the world approach the problem? Kill more. Ha! The easy way out is the worst solution.
Recent blast at Chinnasamy Stadium is a preview of how incidents such as these are going to be treated in future. The fact that they continued with the match after the blast was a bit surprising, but probably the right decision because we can’t let these things affect us. Kumble summed up in one sentence, that these incidents “are a part of our life”.
Good one. 100% true.
ReplyDeleteI always have an unknown fear to go to Mumbai cos of all these incidents, but now it is sad to see that our very own Namma Bengaluru is becoming vulnerable too :(
ReplyDeleteThoughts worth thinking. Nicely summed up... Btw, if you had stood when t mad eyed moody eyes were riveted on you, i guess, his gun would have done the talking ;)
ReplyDelete@ramanaa, thanks!
ReplyDelete@deepak, yup. Bangalore and Chennai were (and are) some of the safest cities. Hope they stay the same.
@ps, I don't think laxmi would have left it to that :P
Good one! I totally agree with what you've said. But I guess, the citizens do something about it to give it back to Terrorists. Practical implementation of "A Wednesday" is much needed.
ReplyDeleteRightly said abt terrorism! But, is there a solution to it! nd who ( or how many different types of people) is behind these attacks? Is it internal or external? So many unanswered and ambiguous replies! ( I sometimes think that terrorism is used by some people for their survival) But, yeah i deeply regret the lives of people in Mumbai who have to live through it! Really, its an agony.
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