Its not just about Mumbai !! Its about INDIA !!

Mumbai is angry. Justifiably so. The specter of terror looms large over Mumbai all the time. Since 1993, the sheer number of terror attacks on Mumbai, let alone the magnitude of those strikes, is too big to manifest this feeling of anger and fear among the common citizens of Mumbai. After last night's attack, this anger is again out in the open. Whether it is Shobha De, Javed Akhtar or any other citizen of Mumbai, all are angry and they have every right to be.

But, somewhere down the line, media and "some" people of Mumbai are giving too much stress on one word. MUMBAIKAR.Every Indian is as perturbed by these attacks and not just Mumbai people.We have people like Javed Akhtar coming on TV and saying, Mumbai is attacked because it has "more". How is a life in Pune or Varanasi has to offer less than a life in Mumbai? Does that make an attack in Connought Place in Delhi or Parliament a less frightening for Delhi's citizens.People are coming on TV and saying, we pay the highest tax in India, so we deserve better security. Does a person in Guwhati or Coimbatore, who also pays tax deserves lesser security than a "Mumbaikar" ? Yes, people are angry in Mumbai, but its a common sentiment that comes out of Mumbai many times. Not only at the time of these attacks.
Jerry Pinto, a Mumbai based writer, comes on NDTV and says, Why is NDTV doing a program about Mumbai sitting in New Delhi ? He mocks Nidhi Razdan,the anchor, when she says she understands why he is angry by saying , "My Goodness, You Do?" And gets a perfect rebuttal from Nidhi, which puts my whole point in picture. She says, "She comes from J&K and she knows how is life under terror".
Yes, the frustration is totally understandable, but what do Mumbaikars do when there are blasts elsewhere? They do the same thing that all other Indians are doing, they sympathize.Somehow, media and page 3 mumbai people are making it all Mumbai show but they forget its India's Mumbai.New Delhi has born the brunt of terror as much as Mumbai has, but has there ever been a voice out of Mumbai about those? Indians have been watching the telecasts since last night,India was awake the whole night on 26/11.But when people of rest of the India, show compassion some people in Mumbai come out on TV and shout on them.
Even as I write, Shobha De is shouting on TV and saying "Mumbaikars are very proud". Of course people like her are proud. This was evident when after 26/11 less than 50% of the Mumbai people turned out to vote. Least percentage was in South Mumbai, the place where many "elite" Mumbaikars live.
And media !! Cmon guys, pay more attention to other such incidents as well. I bet most of the people by now must have forgotten, 2010 blasts in Delhi, Pune and Varanasi! Those lives are also vulnerable. Just because they don,t offer elite of the society , to bark and speak on the panels on the TV shows, they should not be ignored.
Lastly, each Indian stands by people of Mumbai at this point of time. Normal Mumbai citizens are making such true comments and making right noises on TV. Hemant Mehta, a Mumbai citizen makes correct noises in this piece. This is the common sentiment of all Indians, not a Mumbaikar alone. We dont need Shobha De or Sohail Seth to come out and bark their "Pseudo Intelligence" .Come out of that mindset. Its Indians not Mumbaikars !

They came, they saw and they KILLED !!

26/11/2008 to 29/11/2008. These 3 days will always be engraved in the memories of each and every Indian. All the birthdays and the anniversaries falling on these days, will never be forgotten. “I remember my birthday, it was on that night I lost my friend”. “Oh ! We were about to leave for Leopold café’ to celebrate, but”. These are the kind of memories these days have left and sadly, even if we want these to be erased we won’t be able to.

Mumbai. I have never been to the city. But I have heard and read enough to know what this city means to us. This is one special city of this very special country. It just pains all of us to see what it went through. And I am sure the whole country underwent the same emotions as any other Mumbaikar. It appalls us to see over beloved nation to be attacked in such a brutal way. But it is the reality which we have faced far too many times now.It was 9/11 of our own. For how long are we going to sit like a harmless guy who gets bullied around by a buffoon half our size

WHY ??

Are we really such a soft target? May be yes. Its very easy for all of us to blame everything on the politicians. And they are to be blamed alright.They have to be held accountable and should be put to sword for their ineptness. Its totally unfair for a NSG guy to lose his life because of your failure Mr. Poltician. But have we been doing some self introspection or not?
Even if we don’t want to agree, we have to face the fact that we are a rather divided society. The distrust we have for each other, Hindus for Muslims and vice versa is exploited by these politicians as well as terrorists and when ever we are faced with such acts of terror, we ourselves blame the Muslims. It’s terrible. I was among those who thought like that on 26th. But then sanity prevailed. It’s a matter of fact that behind almost all the terror attacks, we see Islamic connection. But then each and every Muslim is not responsible. They are Indians and they also get killed in these attacks. Therefore we need to build some confidence among us and trust me, politicians won’t do that for us. We can’t blame them for this. And the day we start to trust each other, we will not be a soft target for sure.

WHAT CAN WE DO ??

As for why the terrorists were able to do such massive damage, I am sure the concerned agencies will surely figure that out. But I feel such well planned act cant be performed without professional help and Pakis or Porkis as I like to call them,will surely be the last end of this straw. And when we have enough evidence we should strangle this failed nation with both our economic and military might.
-West should be convinced to impose economic blockade on Porkis. As for India , snap all the ties with them. We don’t want to interact either with their middle class or ordinary citizens or anyone. Let them rot in their country. And lets not play cricket with them.
-Scare them with military build up on western border. Go for hot pursuit and for god’s sake finish those terror camps. Whole world will be us on that.
-Beef up our own internal security. Implement National Security Act (NSA).
-Establish a central intelligence agency on the lines of CIA and FBI. It should not be reporting to any government or cabinet. President should be made accountable. That person has had enough of an easy life. That agency should report to President and our Armed forces. And they should be given authority to act asap without any red tape.
-And above all…” An ordinary Indian is ready to help. Tell me what I can do. I am ready to help. Create civil action forces out of ordinary citizens in urban areas. They will be helpful in gathering local intelligence.” And as a citizen I think we should stand up and live upto our responsibilities. Next time we stand in a queue to get frisked or get our baggage checked at airports or stations, lets not cringe. Remember there might be a terrorist in that very queue.We should be less callous and more dutiful.

OUR ARMED FORCES !!

These guys are the heroes. The real ones. These attacks showed us what makes these gritty individuals what they are. We all have lots to learn from them. It was a first of its kind operation any where in the world, where the country’s Army, Air force, Navy, State Police, Special commando forces (NSG) were involved. And what job they have done. We are absolutely proud to have you guys. Thanks a lot for being there when we need you. I think govt. should look into all their demands regarding the pay hike. God knows how they deserve this. Politicians should stop sitting on their fat asses and should look what these guys do. Cut your bloody pay and pay these guys more. Arm them to teeth. Provide them best training and equipment. And here I would also like to mention the work done by Firemen. They were no less courageous. And what about all those heroic stories about the Taj and Oberoi staff? They should be mentioned in the same breath as any other soldier. The journos. They were terrific. Some did went over the board but rest were amazing. Great job guys. And to any attentive eye, it must have been there to see the number of female reporters covering the tragedy. U girls rock.

I proudly salute all you guys and I pay respect to all those police and NSG people who sacrificed their lives. Each and every one of them.

THE AFTERMATH

So, we lost 180+ people in these attacks,12 attacks at 10 places, foreigners killed on Indian soil. A heritage hotel , the pride of India,damaged extensively. I would like to tell something. JRD Tata, the great grandfather of Ratan Tata, had built this hotel in 1903. Why? There was a certain hotel called Wilson Hotel, that prohibited Indians from entering inside. JRD Tata build Taj to show British we can make such Hotels ourselves and he showed the Indian spirit at that time also. He spent 46 crores at that time, to build this piece of Indian history. I guess now all should know why this Hotel is not just a Hotel. Its much more than that. And we know for sure that Ratan Tata is a proud Indian. He will leave no stone unturned in bringing back the Hotel to its past glory.

As for all of us, we have had enough, we all are saying that. What we need is sustaining this feeling and lets channel our anger towards all the positive measures that can be taken. Trust each other, be alert, spread awareness and what all we can do.We should not forget what has happened and make sure that people responsible for our safety do not forget that as well. For Mumbai, they all say you have a resilient spirit and you always come back. Sure, be resilient and all, but make sure when you come back, you have something more than that as well.
I would like to end with something that I saw on TV the other day and its worth the mention.
Mr. Terrorist, " Iam still alive, what more can u do? "
and Mr. Poltician, " I am Still alive, inspite of you"

and " I will continue to live . No matter what may come"

Salaam Bombay…..