Dil pe rakhkar haath kahiye desh kya azaad hai!!!!!

I was watching the news last night...A Chief Minister coming to visit the destroyed site with a renowned film maker...and his deputy makes a statement - "Such things can happen anytime in big cities"...sounds strangely familiar to a dialogue by Shahrukh Khan in one of his megahits! The only difference being that he was referring to falling in love...and this statesman was talking about a terrorist attack which killed about a couple of hundred of people just a few days back! Oh yes and we have more...another chief minister tries to visit the family of a deceased soldier just to get some publicity only to be denied the permission to do so by the poor boy's father! Just where are we living?

I was suddenly reminded of a song we used to identify with during our institute days...Perhaps it does have something do with what we have been witnessing over the past few days...perhaps it does have something to do with the feeling of escapism that haunts me now and then...perhaps it is a feeling of disbelief to see my beloved Mumbai crippled! Every time I listen to this song, it reminds me of the intensity with which I had stepped out of the institute all set to change the world, the faces who wanted to make a difference to the world...of my friends whom I respect for having stayed on while I escaped, the people who made life a wonder even till date...and of course, the man who gave me this song as a gift I can never forget in my Life! And so...here goes the lines that haunt me till date...and ones that I have learnt to love...

Sau mein satter aadmi filhaal jab nashaad hai
Dil pe rakhkar haath kahiye desh kya azaad hai...

Kothiyo se mulk ki maiyyar ko mat ankiye
Asli hindustan toh footpath par abaad hai…

Jo ulajh ke reh gayi hai file o ki jaal mein
Gaw tak woh raushni pahuchegi kitne saal mein…

Boodha bargad sakshi hai gaaw ke choupal par
Ramsudi ki jhopdi bhi dheh gayi chaupal par…

Sattadhari lad pade hai aaj kutto ki tarha
Sukhi roti dekhkar hum mufliso ke haat mein…

Lad rahe hai isliye ke pyar jag mein jee sake
Aadmi ka khoon koi aadmi na pee sake…

Aaj har deewar pardo ki tarah hilne lagi
Shart lekin thi ki yeh buniyad hilni chahiye…

Har nagar se, har sheher se, har gali har gaw se
Haath lehrate hue har lash chalni chahiye…

Ek chingari kahi se dhoond lao dosto
Is diye mein tel se bhigi tui baati toh hai…

Chal padhe hai hum bandhkar sab sar par kafan
Hum rahein ya na rahein asha toh rehni chahiye…

Is nadi ki dhaar se thandi hawa ati toh hai
Naaw jar jar hi sahi lehro se takrati toh hai…

Mere seene mein nahi toh tere seene mein sahi
Ho kahi bhio aag lekin aag jalni chahiye…

Sirf hungama khada karna mera maqsad nahi
Apni koshish hai ke ye soorat badalni chahiye…

Ho gayee hai peer parzat si pighalni chahiye
Is Himalay se koi Yamuna nikalni chahiye…

The ordeal ends!!!

And so…The Taj is finally sanitized! Or is it? I wonder! The entire nation has been hearing this statement as intermittently as they have been hearing firings or a grenade bursting inside the Heritage Hotel! The handful of terror mongers have made fools of the entire defense forces since the last 50 hours! Yes of course the NSG was very brave and so was the Mumbai Police but at what cost? Almost 189 people are said to be dead and more than 500 injured and of course these are just official figures!

The media has been playing exactly the role that it plays…that of a constant watchdog! And that not only provided relief to the people of the country but to the terrorists as well! Armed with ammunitions and dry fruits, what they made a point to carry was their sophisticated mobile phones. Ones that helped them keep getting information and commands from Karachi, and also keep a track on the operations being planned by the defense services! And how would they know about it? Well simple…the media was doing it for them! Be it the position of the NSG commandoes in front of the Taj, be it the NSG commandoes entering the Trident or those being dropped atop the Nariman House…they got a hunch and information of it all!

What personally struck me were the people who were brought in the various talk shows and discussions on all the channels of repute! They were celebrities, politicians, actors, players, writers…I wonder why? And I thought that the CST firing had victims from the regular walks of life…not just those that can dine at the Oberoi or the Taj and get shocked by the turn of events! I have a few questions here:

1. Why was there no coverage by any of the national channels on any of the more than 500 injured people lying in the hospitals?

2. There have been events of mass deaths earlier during the train blast events…why was no family member of any of the deceased ever brought on any talk show and asked for an opinion?

3. Is it only the thoughts and feelings of the celebrities and the rich and the famous relevant?

A certain lady, a renowned industrialist, was heard saying on one of the channels – “My daughter is traumatized. Her friend’s father was one of the people dead. I demand to know why my children would have to go through this?” Well sure madam…we get to feel the trauma your daughter is going through and respect it, but when during the last serial train blasts in Mumbai, a host of people lost their loved ones in front of their eyes, was there anyone to relate their trauma on national television? Or were the channels interested at all for that matter? Just because they were no industrialists? No Page 3 character that would bring a higher TRP rating if their faces were flashed on television? This particular section of the society would not have demanded any answer or clarification had the terror attack not affected the posh South Mumbai Locales! Such is our hypocracy and what a pity that the news channel prefer to call a fashionable lady in her perfect dress, a renowned writer residing close to the area, an actor, a columnist to discuss the situation instead of the commoners, members of whose families have been deceased in the same event!

Welcome egalitarianism!!!!!

Alas! My Beloved City!

I question no religion…I question no country…I question the basic Directive Principle – Safety of the Population! I live in this country and it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that I live a safe life! How then does the much hyped Intelligence Bureau fail to gauge the advent of a group that can cause mayhem in one of the most high profile cities of the country? How does a group of armed terrorists enter the city armed to the brim to wedge a war against the entire armed forces? How do they enter luxury hotels of the likes of Taj and Trident and keep people hostages for over 37 hours now? And how does one dare to destroy Heritage structures like the TAJ for some issue that has got nothing to do with the beautiful edifice or the people held captives or the people dying shocking and surprised deaths? How can the media concentrate on being the first ones to show a footage of events when people are dying untimely deaths? How can the media be irresponsible enough to flash all plans of counter attacks by the Armed Forces just to quench their thirst for publicity?

The likes of NDTV, CNN, Times Now, not to mentions a host of local news channels have so far acted as irresponsible as the politicians of the country are generally found to act! It was, as if, a crazy competition on who flashes a footage of army men stealthily entering the Taj ready for an operation….or who flashes the first footage of the arm filled trawler that was confiscated…or who flashes the first footage of the air force troops silently descending on the terrace of the Nariman Centre! I wonder if they even consider the fact that the world today has shrunk magnificently! It takes a call to inform something to someone! Do they assume that the group of people who have been able to take the entire city, and the nation by storm over the past 40 hours or so are technologically challenged not be informed about the plans of operations through satellite links? Or is it just about sensationalization of events? Is it just about who gives the most gruesome news first? Is it about who gets the most number of celebrities on a talk show to discuss what they feel?

Are we living in a fool’s paradise, still????? And if we are…jus how long do we intend to stay here? Yes, Mumbai Police lost its top brass…but do we learn anything from it? Does it even ring a bell that it is taking the Mumbai Police, the NSG, The Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force to tackle “12” terror mongers? I have not heard much about the people injured or the extremities of their injuries or an update on their health status from the media so far! I wonder why? Or actually perhaps I know why…that is none of our concerns! But my beloved city still burns!!!!!!

The Mumbai Terror Drama Unravelled...

Government sources say they were 12 in number, entered through Sasoon Dock and then through the Gateway! I wonder if this was what the makers ever thought would serve as the gateway for! My question how can people, even if they were dressed as commoners, enter a city with this amount of explosives and arms – completely unnoticed? Better still – they enter the most prestigious hotel and check in as boarders! So much for SECURITY!

Café Leopold – The first target, at around 9:15 p.m. It gave me shudders to remember all the wonderful evenings I had spent at the café!

Next target – the petrol pump opposite the Bootleggers Pub! From here straight to Nariman House, of course in Police Vehicles! And then we are asked to believe that this country has an infrastructure to combat terrorism! The Nariman House trauma started from then and it still continues!

The night before, the next target was the ever busy CST…at 9:24 p.m. The time when most Mumbaiites take the return train! My friend working for TOI narrated how from the window they saw the two young boys with a strikingly fanatic expression on their faces casually shower bullets! “26 ki Diwali” is what the operation was called – and what A Diwali they made it to be!

9:30 p.m. – The Taj Hotel where they walked in casually through the service door! UNNOTICED!!!!! And inside they place their automatic guns on a tripod and fire while revolving the tripod!

Trident Hotel – 9:35 p.m.!

9:55 p.m. – A taxi blows off leaving three dead at Vile Parle.

10:15 p.m. – They come in a Mumbai Police vehicle – a Skoda and fire at the Cama Hospital!

Metro Cinema at 10:30 p.m., Wadi Bunder at 10:45 p.m., Girgaum Chowpatty at 10:50 p.m., a taxi in front of the Santa Cruz Domestic Airport at 11:10 p.m….was just the beginning….and we still accept that there were just 12 of them? They have to be Superhuman to be present in all these places at these small intervals to strike at this rate! And then – it has continued till now…Trident, Taj – apparently free of both terrorists and hostages…or are they? Why the fresh operations then? Why the fresh sounds of grenades and bullets the moment the news is flashed on national television?

Mumbai Mayhem

And so…yet another week ends…Its Thanksgiving in the US and all about just praying here in India. Praying that the macabre drama in the fashion and cine capital ends! Mumbai…the city of dreams, the city of drama, films and life waits in an unending agony for the terror drama to finally see the last curtain falling! Today, sitting in the comforts of my office in Kolkata, all that affects me are the long queues that have suddenly grown - thanks to the extensive checking and the unending strings of discussions and speculations about how it started and how is it going! It isn’t affecting us directly as we confidently and comfortably rest in the “It cannot happen to me” mode…but is it really not?

I have lived in Mumbai for a couple of years and love the city to the core! The streets, the cafes, the walkways, the seaside….everything about the city…has a character of its own! A life of its own! The stately Taj Palace right across the Majestic Gateway with hundreds of small pleasure rafts and steamers floating in the water right in front of the eyes…the beauty of the glittering “Queen’s Necklace” From the top of the Trident…the warm and cozy ambience of the Leopold or the Mondegar…the ever busy CST, buzzing with hyper active people! It all gives me a pleasant sense of warmth and humaneness….Well lets not continue to live in the world of dreams, for many of the Mumbaiites will perhaps not even be able to have a peaceful sleep for the next few months!

It was just by accident that I suddenly stuck upon the news channel which showed – “BREAKING NEWS – Terror Attack in Mumbai”…what unraveled was a gruesome reality that could best be described as a NIGHTMARE! Calling up friends and loved ones in Mumbai to ensure that they are safe was the first thing on the cards…but they assured me that it was just a “Gang War”! I wish it was! For till now as I write this….I know not who the corresponding “Gangs” are but it is a WAR for sure! I feel like I live in a country with an ongoing civil war! The Police, The National Security Guards, The Indian Army, The Indian Navy, and finally the Indian Air Force….and yet we have the mysterious miscreants hanging on to the poor people they continue to hold as hostages! Where from they entered, where from they ended up with the amount and quality of arms that they seem to possess and where from did it all start are questions that remain unanswered and, I am sure, will remain so till we have the next blow to shake us up from our slumber. But they remain there…firing indiscriminately at civilians and forces alike and killing them like ants…hurling grenades endlessly and holding on to their positions – all but a handful of young boys!

Where are we heading?

Was reading through the papers a few days back! A sadhwi and a sadhu – both convicted for terrorist activities! And we thought it was just the prerogative of the Other religious faith to act terrorizing...the religious leaders guide the masses into destruction, isn't that what we generally talk about? Well, it's not just them any more...we, members of the so-called 'harmless' , 'peace loving' religion have also decided that it's time we showed them our real selves!

Sadly, these are not the first cases! There had been murders and genocides by the name of religion and of course the leading religious group in the country is being supported by people in power as well! It stuns me to think that we still justify these acts and the people responsible for such heinous inhuman crimes are still roaming around scott free! The ones that end up getting punished are the fools that blindly follow what is told to them! No wonder we still live in a country more than 70% full of illiterate people! Its easy that way! Just get the illiterate ones to believe that this is not for your good! And there they are up in arms and out there to kill! Isn't the trend exactly the same as the ones we have so long criticized!

What kind of a country are we living in? Some province wants to break off as a different state...some province wants autonomy even while within the country...in one of the most dynamic cities in the country a particular man demands people from all other regions to be thrown out or beaten inhumanly...and the authorities are, for some unknown reason, comfortably numb! I wonder when will they wake up? Isn't it about time? A country boasting of peace and tranquility is waking up everyday to yet another day of petrification – would the day end with the news of yet another blast? Would the day end with more deaths? Would it be yet another day worth forgetting?

Is there nothing we can do about this? Is all that we can do is wait and watch more disturbance, deaths, unrest and ...a probable end?

Amader ei poth cholatei anondo....