A Prayer for Mumbai.
Just when I was beginning to get over the shock of the foiled subway terrorist attacks in Manhattan, bomb blasts in the Mumbai local trains brought back the reality that there is truly no place on earth that is safe anymore. Terrorism is not new to India. Thousands of people have died at the mercy of Islamic terrorists over the last many decades, many many more lives sacrificed than on that tragic day in September here in Manhattan.
If you have ever been on a local train in Bombay you will know that we are talking about a ginormous volume of commuters on a daily basis, crammed in like sardines, with the smell of sardines (thanks to the many fisherwomen on these trains) and on a normal day the experience can be pretty terrifying.
I can't begin to imagine the scenes there today with seven bombs exploding at rush hour in first class compartments of the local trains. Two of the stations affected - Khar and Bandra, are ones I have travelled through many many times when I lived there. These were people getting home after a hard day's work. Within 11 minutes, over 150 lives lost. A horrible tragedy.
At times like this one can only count on the resilience of the people to get through it all. And that's the one thing we can count on. Like New Yorkers, Bombayites are a tough species. Hats off to a city where the first people who rushed to help victims were slum dwellers. We are all hearing familiar stories of strangers selflessly helping strangers with no care for caste, creed and or social rank. Long lines outside blood banks.
Once again we are reminded of an unconditional love for a city and it's people.
As people tremble in the aftermath of these terrorist attacks in Mumbai and other parts of India, let's remember that the spirit of cities like New York and Mumbai will never ever be shaken. I refuse to accept headlines by British journalists that read "Seven Blasts Push Bombay to the Brink of Collapse." They just have no idea do they?
And while Time magazine does a cover on India and it's fabulous progress and even talks about Tapas bars in Mumbai, let's not forget the evil eye that watches over our cities, hoping to trip us up, instill fear in us and weaken us.
We won't let it happen Mumbai.
We won't let it happen Manhattan.
1 comment:
They say, and as days go by, I firmly believe in 'man was born to self-destruct'
The world will very soon.
Man will kill man and there will be no one left.
Or maybe there would.
But as I turn an optimistic eye to this bloodshed and violence all over the world - one observation restores some faith in me. That people help people. People unite in crisis; they help people when they're helpless.
I hope that this movement of unity and recognizing that it's only us who's making the world a place that it is, will grow stronger and faster then the one of senseless mass murderers.
Having said that, I do believe that we all can make a difference in some way. May not always be in actions. But at least, in our thoughts and energies, let us try and give only good. Think good. Wish well. And try and spread more love than hate and anger. These are all simple words and emotions, but the root - of all good and evil.
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