The day Bombay mourned

Mumbai Bounces back !! Read the headlines of the papers after the Serial bomb blasts rocked Bombay. Another superficially placating line, targeted to show the indomitable spirit of Mumbaikars…as you and me read these lines- I want you to ask your own true self. Do we, Indians have that spirit- of fighting back to wrong doings. Do we, Indians really standup to such incidents? No- resonates in my skull… no is the only word that resonates in my being- we Indians lack that fighting spirit.

Stoic- yes we are. Resilient- yes we are. Humane- yes we are, and I guess these are the only reasons why one could find people going in trains and things went back to normal a few hours later. We were stoic enough to bear the losses patiently. We have and had the resilience and the humanity to help the fellow stranger through these times. But again one single thought echoes- we mumbaikars don’t have the fighting spirit.

“What do you mean by a fighting spirit anil”? Well dear- read the other world headlines… “Two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah.” And the following day headline was “Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon as jets launched fresh strikes on Beirut airport, the road to the Syrian capital and a power plant”

Now that’s what I call a fighters spirit. You take our two soldiers and yes- mofo’s, we shall scorch your cities- this was the single emotion and the foremost thought etched in the pilots commanding the fighter jets which flew over Beirut.

The world went its own little way of condemning the act- The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting. French President Jacques Chirac said the Israeli air strikes were "completely disproportionate" and the Vatican described them as an attack on a sovereign and free nation.

So was it-the countries around the world went around condemning the act- while Israel showed them “the finger” and did what they were good at doing. Defending the Promised Land at any costs!!

And now comes the best part- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would agree to a ceasefire if Hezbollah returned the two captured soldiers and stopped firing rockets at northern Israel, and Lebanon implemented UN Security Council resolution 1559, calling for the disarmament of the militant group.

Now stop and think- a country creates such a pandemonium over two foot soldiers? Interesting right.

And what do we do- we light up candles and protest- condemn the terrorists and cursed them brushed off the dust and woke up again to catch the train to work.

The media calls it “ The spirit of Mumbai” – I call it hypocritical bull shit.

It’s different this time. Sad but true. A day after the first serial blasts of March 12, 1993, Bombay had been back on its feet—its never-say-die reply to those brutal dons earning awe and long remembered praise. But after 13 years of repeated bludgeoning, that spirit has dissipated. Terror Tuesday which claimed 200 lives and injured more than 700 has broken the city’s once-resilient spine.

This time – people are scared and their memories scarred. No offense meant to the departed souls- I mourn equally for them. But what about the common man….the psyche has been battered, the routine of battling through sardine-packed compartments has suddenly become an ominous game of Russian roulette. “Will I reach home safely tonight?’’.

Amidst all this I ask my self…Why cant we fight like the Israelis? After all we were the ones who trained the Mossad.

I cant find any answer to this- except for mourning for the dead ones- and feeling bitter about the whole situation- I cant seem to find any logically conclusive answers to these…Yes I have failed to find the reasons and find answers to all the questions my conscience asks.

The Truth Begins

At the age of eight- I was bestowed with the sacred thread, by the pontiff who spear heads the community I hail from.It was the ceremony which marked me as a Brahmin . He was my guru- not the only one, there were many later on to follow the suit. I relentlessly searched a teacher who could teach me to rein my restless soul. But of all of the teachers who walked along in my sojourn. The first one who initiated me into the vendantic way of life also bestowed upon me two things:

An old Bhagavat Gita and an umbrella.

" Anil, the umbrella will shield you from rain," and "The Gita will save you from everything else."said the pontiff smiling as I held the two things in my tiny hands.

As time passed by, my umbrella's purpose held true. The umbrella did guard me when the sky was at its worst. And as time passed by, my Gita's promise held true!! My book savior guided me when my life was at its worst.

Then came a day when my umbrella wouldn't spring open anymore and I had to walk home in the humbling deluge.

There came another day when my old Gita couldn't help me out anymore, and I had to suffer in resounding distress, while not a single passage seemed to make sense to me.

I never did throw that umbrella away, nor did I banish the Gita to hell in the dark pit of a trash bag. One sits in a box, back home in India, with odds, ends, and oddly enough, some junk from the yesteryears. The other rests on my shelf with Eliyahu Goldratt and Thomas Freidman.

It was easy enough to buy a new umbrella, but when, I see people asking me to hang in there and hold on to my faith , I like to think twice about the only opinion I hold in the matter now

"I guess my faith is a faulty umbrella."

July 4th 2006
Vienna,VA