Mumbai has fallen again. It has fallen at the feet of an enemy whom we all know but can never see. Yes, we cannot see because we are blind. We have chosen to be blind rather than face the obvious. We have closed our eyes and turned our backs against reality.
Human mind chooses to believe what is best for it. We believed that we were safe even when the world around us was burning. When planes were crashing into towers. When men and women were blowing themselves just to take a few more with them. We believed that we were safe in our homes, in our neighborhood, in our country and closed our eyes to what was obvious. What is obvious is that the world is no longer the same.
It was one such thing behind that darkness that blew Bombay apart 15 years ago. The thing that ripped through the sub-urban trains of Mumbai two years ago. The thing that let many cities and towns in India bleed just about a few months ago. It is that same thing that on 26th November 2008, 15 years after Bombay was blown apart, made Mumbai come to a screeching halt. Gunshots and grenades tore through the city. Terrorism!!! Mumbai has fallen again. Fallen it has, by the act of cowards who chose to exhibit their courage against innocent lives. Cowards who came in from the darkness of life. Cowards who do not value the value of life. They have painted the city of Mumbai in blood. Iconic images of a legendary city have been stained with these filthy memories. These landmarks will be imprinted in the memories of all, not with the luster they used to hold but with smoke that poured out them. It will last in the memories with the bloodshed it had to face on this dark day.
I am not here to play the usual blame game. Oh No! I am not blaming the Government for its inept measures to sustain war against terrorism. I am not blaming the Intelligence for its umpteenth failure to smell out such foul play. I am not blaming the media for making this an all day entertainment by just telecasting the same images and news repetitively through different angles and different reporters. I am definitely not blaming the politicians who are taking positions and plans that would fetch them the vote banks for the forthcoming elections. There is no one to blame for this mayhem. No one. Just us, who continue to just watch all of this via our favorite channels and at the same time not forgetting to tune into our favorite soap operas. Crying for the dead at the same time heartbroken for the last two one dayers that have been abandoned. Praying for the success of the encounters at the same time hoping that intricate details of the mission would be leaked on the news channel for us to watch. Feeling disgusted by the acts of these terrorists but at the same time taking sides in communal riots of same magnitude. There is no one to blame. Just us, who have to take the responsibility of what has happened to this beautiful world.
News channels and Newspapers seem to come up with apt quotes and continue to call the victims of such acts as resilient. We are not resilient to terror any more. We are just insensitive. We are inefficient and insensitive. We still wave out hands at the camera when reporters are spilling out the events. We laugh and chat over the phone in front of the camera when hundreds are crying for help just behind us. We are just insensitive and not resilient. If we still want to hold onto the word resilient, then we are just resilient, not because of choice but by force. We have to move on not because life goes on but because our daily bread depends on whether we move on. There is someone at our backs more than willing to take our place if we decide to stand still for just even a moment. Life just moves on. Just about another week and we all would have gone ahead with our lives and many other events would have filled our refreshable and erasable memories, pushing these dark events either to the back of our minds or completely out of our systems.
Let us not kid ourselves… there will be many other such days, many other innocent lives that would become prey to this hungry demon, many other cities that would fall just like Mumbai but until then let us hope and pray…. just until then…
Probably…..do whatever you can at your best for the safety of this land , add to it and spread awareness it might HELP in some way, Guys……Rise to it and don’t give it up ……….!!
