Final Countdown

1 more exam, 4 more days, 24 hours of travelling..and I will be home. Hip Hip Hurray! :D

Thank You

It's been a year. I lit a candle today in honour of my grandfather. It's been an interesting year to say the least. I have a lot to be thankful for.
To the people who held my hand through the tough times, listened to me rant on the phone and went out in the morning to buy me a candle..you know who you are.

Thank you :)

Mumbai Meri Jaan

On Wednesday morning, I woke up in the morning dreading all the work I had to do before stepping on a flight to go to Houston. I was running around like a beheaded chicken, trying to finish off a particularly irritating assignment and at the same time trying to make sure that I packed whatever was required for my 3 day trip. 

Needless to say, I reached the airport in time and had to stand in what seemed like a never-ending line before I could go through the security check at the airport. With a sense of achievement that I still had time to spare, I headed towards the gate to wait for them to call for boarding. Nothing in my wildest dream could have prepared me for what I would see on the TV screen. Mumbai...was under attack. Guests at the Taj Hotel had been taken hostage. Gunmen had opened fire at innocent travellers in the busiest train station I have ever seen till date. People had been shot in Cafe Leopold. I had to sit down in a chair because I couldn't believe my eyes. I could feel my legs buckle under me because I couldn't stop shaking. I watched in silence and disbelief as more news came in and pictures came up on the screen.

The places were familiar. I wasn't born in Mumbai and I have never lived there for any significant length of time. But less than one year ago, I made two visits to this vibrant city. At a time in my life when I was largely unhappy, recuperating from loss, confused about my future, extremely restless and desperate for a sense of belonging - I found myself in Mumbai. During those two visits, I marvelled at the sense of freedom I experienced there.  We spent most of those days sitting on Marine Drive, watching the waves break against the rocks in silence, interspersed with some wise-cracks at someone else's expense. We stood near the Gateway of India marvelling at the beauty of the Taj and joking about how none of us had the money to have an entire meal there. We spent time in Leopold's soaking in the music and the atmosphere. We travelled by local train and passed through CST numerous times. The place had an energy about it which I had never experienced before. People were constantly on the move. The rhythm of their footsteps were somehow a source of comfort to me. Proof that in all the chaos of my life, there could eventually be some sense of order. 

I was in Houston for Thanksgiving. But every moment that wasn't spent talking to family or preparing for the dinner was spent obsessing about what was happening in Mumbai; reading every single article I could lay my hands on, contacting friends in Mumbai to make sure they were ok, watching CNN for updates and reading various blogs. The sheer helplessness of the situation was overwhelming and annoying. I know I'm not the only one who has felt this way because I've lost track of the number of people who have told me this over the past few days - "Is there anything at all I can do to help? Why???"

In all this chaos, there's no dearth of stories which leave you with some sense of hope for the days to come. The railway authorities cleared the debris of the explosions in 12 hours. Volunteers came forward to carry the wounded and the dead, to donate blood and to assist traumatized survivors.This demonstration of courage and empathy is all the more remarkable in a metropolis whose residents must desensitise themselves in order to survive against failing infrastructure, strained amenities, official indifference and an unforgiving pace of life. The epitome of survival of the fittest.

It feels next to impossible for me to look at something like this objectively. The siege may be over for now. People have died. Fingers are being pointed. The general public is outraged at the state of affairs. All the people holding offices of power seem to have put in their papers. Does that really achieve anything? They step down and expect someone else to do the clean-up job. It just leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. 

It's very easy to point fingers but I believe Indians have to change. And what better time than right now? Politicians can only make policies to point us in the right direction. It's the common man and the law enforcers who will ultimately ensure that the system runs efficiently. We, as a community, have to learn how to stop cutting corners. If we want a more effective security system, we have to be willing to sacrifice a little of our privacy. There's a price we're all going to have to pay if we want to live in a safer and more secure world. Blaming everything on the government has become a habit - an escape route for most. The fact still remains that most of our metros are unprepared to defend themselves against the perils of terrorist warfare.

Someone pointed out to me today that I give people too much credit. That I have way too much faith in humanity. The truth is, I don't think I'd like to have it any other way. I believe that the undaunted resilience of the human heart is something spectacular. That we can pick up the pieces and move on with our lives never fails to amaze me. But I regret to say, that in our hurry to "move on", we forget. We may have escaped the clutches of terror this time, but that doesn't guarantee that we will be as lucky tomorrow. I sincerely hope that we, as a nation, learn from these mistakes so that a tragedy of this magnitude can be avoided in the future. Resilience is good, but amnesia fatal.