Sunday, November 30, 2008

A Wednesday

India's tryst with the number 26th continues... the earthquake in Gujarat, rains in Mumbai and now the attack on 3 landmarks…also continuing unabated are the repeated terrorists attacks - Zaveri bazar bomb blasts, train bombings…


The ferocity of the attacks has left the common man angered and the bereaved families devastated. While it is difficult to deal with the loss of a loved one / country's brave soldiers killed fighting a battle on the borders against a known enemy, coming to terms with life lost fighting an unknown enemy within our own country is a herculean task.


Repeated attacks on Mumbai point only at one conclusion - the intent of the terrorists to create mayhem and confusion which will cripple the economic capital of India and hence India itself. Idea seems to be to create so much of fear in the common man's mind that he is too scared to step out of the house...Lets not get drawn into a blame game as to whos at fault – terrorists do not have a religion – so painting all Muslims or Pakistanis as terrorists will not solve problems… will just add to the prevailing sense of injustice and anger than an Indian is feeling and put fuel to the fire...


We all have gotten used to frequent calls by family members in the course of the day on the pretext of finding whether we are safe or not… I am now loathe to let my kid brother disappear from my sight for more than 2 min… these attacks are depriving us of our privacy, our freedom – something which separated us from our neighbors…


What does the common man do now? Start buying arms and ammunitions, invest heavily in security systems, start operating out of homes? Time now I think, for the common man to now retaliate… to take back what is deservingly ours – right to move freely in any part of the city, country without the fear of being gunned down by terrorists… This retaliation was captured brilliantly in the movie a wednesday. If the terrorists are willing to lay down their lives and prepare painstakingly for a cause that half of them don’t even understand, we can definitely achieve much more by fighting for a much more personal cause – our freedom… lets start being more careful and protecting ourselves and others around us....