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!!!!!