My city has become scary. I want to yell my wrath out. I want to weep endlessly.
I don't want to hear Mr. CM declare 'we had information but it was not direct information.' I don't want Mr. Advani's futile presence in my city. I don't want Mr. Modi's crore. I don't want hon'ble Mr. Singh's 'strong words'. I want people not to come out & camp at rescue operation sites.
I want martyrs revived. I want Mr. Karkare back. I want innocent people to at least finish their meal before they meet their deathly fate. I want bullet-proof jackets that actually work. I want Moshe reunited with his parents. Irrational? What has been rational in the last 4 days anyway?
I want to appeal to all Indians & foreign nationals alike, daunting as it might be, to revisit & reunite with the phenomenal legacy that is the Taj Mahal Palace. For if we don't rebuild & embrace the Taj, terror wins. I want to spare a thought for the first 56, seemingly forgotten, who got killed at CST.
I don't want to hate that 21 year old. I want to make him fall in love with Maximum City - so much that it alters his meddled brain, so much that it fills him with overpowering remorse for what he has done to it, so much that it makes him cry. Did he not once see the beauty of the Taj, the grandeur of the Gateway by night? Did he not once feel like other 21 year olds at Leo's? Hell, wasn't that backpack too heavy? Wait. I'm talking crazy again, aren't I? What has managed to even border the limits of sanity in the last 4 days anyway?
I am not terrorised. I have retained my spirit but it certainly has been dampened. Empty local trains, empty offices, quiet colleges, bloodied railway platforms, bullet cases & grenade shells strewn about my city's streets. I am not resilient. No one is. I will not move on. This time, no one will.
I want to dine at the Golden Dragon someday. I don't want to 'wonder what that sound was' when I hear firecrackers, scooters, stray dogs playing with empty plastic bottles. I don't want my mother to be worried every time I step out, in my home city.
Enough. I want peace in Mumbai. Godspeed.
PS: Quote of the season - "Mr. Terrorist, I'm alive. What can you do? Mr. Politician, I'm alive despite you. I'm a Mumbaikar."
I don't want to hear Mr. CM declare 'we had information but it was not direct information.' I don't want Mr. Advani's futile presence in my city. I don't want Mr. Modi's crore. I don't want hon'ble Mr. Singh's 'strong words'. I want people not to come out & camp at rescue operation sites.
I want martyrs revived. I want Mr. Karkare back. I want innocent people to at least finish their meal before they meet their deathly fate. I want bullet-proof jackets that actually work. I want Moshe reunited with his parents. Irrational? What has been rational in the last 4 days anyway?
I want to appeal to all Indians & foreign nationals alike, daunting as it might be, to revisit & reunite with the phenomenal legacy that is the Taj Mahal Palace. For if we don't rebuild & embrace the Taj, terror wins. I want to spare a thought for the first 56, seemingly forgotten, who got killed at CST.
I don't want to hate that 21 year old. I want to make him fall in love with Maximum City - so much that it alters his meddled brain, so much that it fills him with overpowering remorse for what he has done to it, so much that it makes him cry. Did he not once see the beauty of the Taj, the grandeur of the Gateway by night? Did he not once feel like other 21 year olds at Leo's? Hell, wasn't that backpack too heavy? Wait. I'm talking crazy again, aren't I? What has managed to even border the limits of sanity in the last 4 days anyway?
I am not terrorised. I have retained my spirit but it certainly has been dampened. Empty local trains, empty offices, quiet colleges, bloodied railway platforms, bullet cases & grenade shells strewn about my city's streets. I am not resilient. No one is. I will not move on. This time, no one will.
I want to dine at the Golden Dragon someday. I don't want to 'wonder what that sound was' when I hear firecrackers, scooters, stray dogs playing with empty plastic bottles. I don't want my mother to be worried every time I step out, in my home city.
Enough. I want peace in Mumbai. Godspeed.
PS: Quote of the season - "Mr. Terrorist, I'm alive. What can you do? Mr. Politician, I'm alive despite you. I'm a Mumbaikar."
8 comments:
i like the use of language... well written... nice... provoking to do take an action!
:( All of us want the exact same things. And the beauty of our *democracy* is, we've been denied the things we want for 60 years now.
A Man prepared to die for such a cause is dead already.
I doubt that 21-year-old could ever fall in love with anything.
But you're right, we can't let the terror win. The Taj must be rebuilt. Grander than before if thats possible.
You're really good at writing. I'm sure you get that a lot.
PS
In case you're wondering, I'm Tanuj. Your name seemed familiar on Orkut and in an effort to figure out why, a series of frantic clicking lead me here. And my guess is that you were in Bholas?
Anyway, if you didn't find me creepy, do let me know if I was right. Drop me a mail at tanuj.bhojwani@gmail.com.
If you did find me creepy, mention that in the subject and drop me a mail at tanuj.bhojwani@gmail.com.
PPS You're not crazy. The bags did look too heavy.
Hey nothing more can be said. I cant just imagine sitting here what is going on there, but I pray for peace to our city.
There is work to be done. Lot of work. Training, drills, infrastructure. Past affects us. But past is past. Now what?
Next time a terrorist attack happens, we will be responsible. As a democracy we are already responsible.
Lets not leave it to the government this time. Lets hold them to account. Lets be ruthless.
Something in that post gave me goosebumps...hold on, Peru. Peace will find its way. Or perhaps we'll find the way to peace
All well-written... But I differ strongly on "not hating tht 21 yr old"... Its just not possible in the craziest of the dreams. He deserves to be hanged outside CST station and shot with a hundred bullets with his own AK47...A public execution...Thats what he deserves...
When I saw the Taj burning, only one thought struck me... We all experienced what the Americans must have felt when the Twin Towers were being attacked...Never did the Taj Mahal Palace seem to be so close to a billion hearts who consider it as their very own... Rich and poor alike... It is now that we realise that it is a matter of belonging to all us Mumbaikars...
These terrorists(and more so, our politicians...)have left all of us numb and angry, but restless and helpless :-(
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