It Is Time…
Yes…yes it is time to realise that we as citizens of India have to take the blame for whatever is happening in Mumbai. I am writing this post with great anguish and pain at whatever I am seeing on the television and the news I am getting. We as Indians have become so numb and thick skinned that tomorrow we will go on with our lives and forget everything.
I am ashamed of myself when I think that the first thought which came to my mind when I heard of the terrorist attack was that oh shit I won’t be able to go to the Spanish Consulate which is situated right at Nariman Point. And I consider myself to be a very sensitive person. My senses are so numb that I am not bothered about the lives of the people at Taj, Oberoi, CST and Nariman House and in general the people who were caught unawares on the road. What shakes me is when I feel that these armed guys might end up at Malad west that is at the suburbs of Mumbai. Oh shit these guys could attack me also, I think.
This is the attitude of the average citizen of India. We get angry and dismayed but then move on, the so called “Spirit of Mumbai”…Blah…Blah…I was just telling a friend that the politicians have made the common man unsafe and these guys showed that even the elite are not safe. The only guys who are safe are these politicians who move around with these security guys. We blame the politicians but how many of us have any hand in choosing them. We always sit outside and blame others. We say politics is dirty we don’t want to dirty our hands. How many of us would take politics as career? Bureaucracy may be yes… but politics no no…
We should not forget that we are really caught with our pants down. Can you imagine when I have to shoot at Aksa beach that is close to Madh I have to take permission from the BMC, Police and Port authorities? Now these guys coolly come by sea and land at Colaba and walk in The Taj and Oberoi. I have to take permission to shoot on the roads of Mumbai and these guys walk with guns and walk into CST station?
Our cops are busy trying to earn that extra buck, as they are so ill paid and seriously overworked. They try to fight these guys with lathis and 303 rifles. Give me a break…I remember few years back I was chased by a cop on bike and flagged down. He fined me for talking on mobile while driving and when I paid him 50 bucks he almost apologetically told me that he has a very tough job. In other words he was asking for more. Can you beat that? Or rather can you really blame them?
When I told someone that I want to write something and not knowing where to write I said I am going to write something in PFC. He asked me why PFC of all places? I said well it is read by young people who are the so called future of India and appeal to all to not to forget these 60 hrs. I appeal to you not to forget the name of Major Unnikrishnan and Commando Gajraj Singh of NSG who came from one part of India to fight terror in another part of India and died. Not to forget the Mumbai Cops who died because they were ill equipped and all those 200 plus people who lost their lives because we failed.
Yes…Yes it is time to look within….
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Even I blame myself as much as the concerned authorities…”Democracy is by, for and of the people” said Abraham Lincoln…
aptly written
though its not gajraj singh……its Gajendra Singh
for a counry like ours where votebank politics dominate….the like minded moderates have to become the votebank…..
It is not for the good people of the world to blame themselves for the evil of a few. Lets not forget that behind this very horrible tragedy, there are many, many other attempts that are averted before anything can happen. Unfortunately, it only takes one successful act of evil to make hundreds of innocents suffer…
I remember that right after the 9/11 attacks, people were going to bars in my neighborhood and laughing – drunk – on the street… I felt betrayed by their actions but in some way, such is human nature. As you aptly write, what really affected you was how this siege was impacting you personally, with the Spanish Consulate, and whether the militants would make it to your neighborhood. It is natural to view the world from our own personal prospective.
And finally, yes, ABSOLUTELY blame the politicians, and those wannabe politicians, whose names rhyme with Pal and Taj Stingray… Seriously, even the CM was away that night in Kerala, for some political conference. How convenient?!?! Really?? Yes, the best thing to do is to look within, become part of the solution, but without blaming oneself.
@Ashwin…I stand corrected…it is Gajendra Singh…
@Nina…the blame game is the game we have played… always…the people,the system,sadly in some instances our country itself.
It happened in 1993. And it is happening again.
And yes I am talking about the human nature.
I really hope that it brings out the change within everyone…
Hmm, I think if a person thinks about his self interest before thinking of others, can’t blame him for that. But he pursues that line of thought even when he knows to pursue his needs, he will have to hurt others that’s when I am against.
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You right about PFC being read by many people who think and respond (instead of react) unlike Rediff.
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But time will tell how much of these thoughts are converted into action. Or as in days to come when we go on with our lives and our daily wars, if the bigger picture is no more bigger any more, that will be a shame.
@Shivajee..let us just resolve to retain the anger within..the rest shall pan out on its own..the resolve was missing till today
A guy like Ness Wadia said on NDTV yesterday that we need to drop our “Chalta Hai” attitude. WE DO. HIGH TIME.