Mumbai, the commercial city of India is currently reeling under the after math of history’s worst terror attacks. The city was under siege by gun-toting murderers, well-trained terrorists loaded with arms and ammunition: grenades, pistols, AK 47. 6 with 8 to 9 magazines, explosives etc. Any country’s worst nightmare has come true.
Mumbai has suddenly captured the minds and imagination of the world. It became international news and followed up closely across countries. The world has expressed solidarity with Mumbai and we Indians, grieved along with Mumbai and partook in its moments of grief. I was engaged with my Semester-III exams, had oodles of portion to finish and yet I could not take my eyes off the dramatic footages of the News Channels: NDTV and CNN IBN. Images of people running helter and skelter, cowering and ducking behind walls for protection, lying helplessly on roads, I had seen a man crawling on the road. None of us, or at least I could reconcile myself to this brutal reality staring in my face for sometime. It looked like a Mani Shankar or Ram Gopal Verma’s action movies. It is touted to be India’s 9/11 because of the magnitude of the collateral damage it caused. In this year alone, as far as I can remember, there have been not less than 5 terrorist attacks (bomb blasts) and the country was helpless and hopeless. The smug belief that we are ‘safe’ is finally shattered. Our sense of security appears bleak and the façade is indeed broken! Malls, Parks, Markets and now Five Star Hotels and Restaurants, Residential complexes – none of it is spared! I see the terrorists attacking the Nariman house, a complex housed by Jewish ilk and I’m afraid that tomorrow, the complex that I live in, might be under attack by terrorists or any miscreants, more so because my apartment is on the main road. I couldn’t help but place myself in the situation. If it can happen in Mumbai, it can happen anywhere in India. You go to a restaurant to have dinner, a shopping mall, market and not sure if you will come back home alive.The turbulent time has declared its hegemony over us. I crouch at the thought of waking up to a morning where I have to run for my life. Being gunned by terrorists at a Railway Station is the last thing on every travellers mind. The instance actually manifested on 27 Nov, 08 at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus. I was there, two years ago, boarding a train to Hyderabad from Mumbai. Deserted and vacant roads are the last thing, one will find in Mumbai. The crowd was bursting at seams in the railway station. I loved that hustle bustle, typical of a railway station. Passengers, coolies, channa battani hawkers and everybody going about their business. The empty CST was staring at me stupefied from the TV footage that was playing.
I have seen terror attacks; the ruthless bomb blasts at Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi (twice) and we perhaps have become immune to terror. Every other day, you get to read a bomb blast and it soon became a common phenomenon. But the one that happened in Mumbai, which caused large scale damage, had beaten the breath out of me. My anxiety stems from the fact that Mumbai is one place that is close to my heart. My dalliance with Mumbai can be harked back to Jan 2007, when I had alighted in this HUGE city for a seminar, along with my history mam and one of my close friend’s Joyce. Mumbai evokes happy and proud memories as I was representing my college from Hyderabad at Mumbai. We spent three full days and two nights there. The moment I stepped out of the railway station, the first thing that caught me was the sight of the taxis. A city that I saw till yesterday on the TV had become a reality at that moment. The tangible factor, the very infrastructure corroborates the fact that it is a metropolitan city. Wide roads, tall buildings, huge bill boards greet you. We attended the seminar at Sophia college on Bulabai Desai road and the building just opposite to the to the college fascinated me. It resembled the Empire State Building at New York. It also sometimes referred to as mini New York by few. The sprawling city of Mumbai for me is a symbol of DREAMS and FREEDOM. Joyce and I were far from being nostalgic about Hyderabad. We were so in love with the city that we did not wanted to return when the time for departure had come. I had actually asked my mam to leave us here. But jokes apart, I was smitten by the city. I’m a true Hyderabadi to the core. Having said that, when I was in Bombay, Hyderabad appeared as a small town. Though my brought up was from the main stream city, I felt like a small town girl at Mumbai. We hired taxis to travel from college to shopping and from shopping to the convent. I sat next to the driver in the front seat while mam and Joyce perched at the back seat. I was in awe of the huge buildings as almost all buildings comprised floors that ranged from 15 to 20 on an average. The amusing part was that I began to count the number of the floors, when the taxi halted in the traffic and I got a panoramic view as I was sitting in the front. The driver along with Joyce and mam were in splits. It tickles my funny bone even at this moment as I’m narrating this event. I was very naughty and mam and Joyce had a tough time in keeping pace with my energy levels. My visit to Mumbai is rife with some pleasant experiences. The people were hospitable and so were the taxi drivers. There was not even a hint of deception and an effort made to take us for a ride as we were new. My mam strictly ordered Joyce and me to not to speak in Telugu, our native language. But it was obvious that anyone could figure out that we were new by the way we were moping about places. We visited places like Dhadar, Wadi, Crawford Street, Gandhi mart, Church gate etc. However, we couldn’t cover all places as there was barely any time left and we had pre-booked our tickets. Mumbai will always remain one of my favourite places though its image is now tarnished by terrorists. They might have tarnished the image but it is not irreparable. I always wanted to visit Mumbai again as I had not seen all the places and I will surely visit Mumbai again. Despite all this chaos, confusion, fear of terror, violence and loss, my love for the place will take me to the place. Mumbai will continue to be the happening metropolis and the commercial city of India.
Thus we fall, we rise and life goes on until we are shaken by another attack and this seems like a never ending vicious cycle. We are a population of one billion and I want to see how many will the terrorists suceed in killing? Damage done to property will be repairable but the wounds and trauma of the victims will never heal; it will leave them scarred forever. My deep condolences and commiserations to the sons of the soil: Cops and NGS Commando’s who gave their lives for country’s sake and three cheers to the NGG Commando’s for their painstaking efforts that reaped success in the operations executed against the terrorists.
Mumbai has suddenly captured the minds and imagination of the world. It became international news and followed up closely across countries. The world has expressed solidarity with Mumbai and we Indians, grieved along with Mumbai and partook in its moments of grief. I was engaged with my Semester-III exams, had oodles of portion to finish and yet I could not take my eyes off the dramatic footages of the News Channels: NDTV and CNN IBN. Images of people running helter and skelter, cowering and ducking behind walls for protection, lying helplessly on roads, I had seen a man crawling on the road. None of us, or at least I could reconcile myself to this brutal reality staring in my face for sometime. It looked like a Mani Shankar or Ram Gopal Verma’s action movies. It is touted to be India’s 9/11 because of the magnitude of the collateral damage it caused. In this year alone, as far as I can remember, there have been not less than 5 terrorist attacks (bomb blasts) and the country was helpless and hopeless. The smug belief that we are ‘safe’ is finally shattered. Our sense of security appears bleak and the façade is indeed broken! Malls, Parks, Markets and now Five Star Hotels and Restaurants, Residential complexes – none of it is spared! I see the terrorists attacking the Nariman house, a complex housed by Jewish ilk and I’m afraid that tomorrow, the complex that I live in, might be under attack by terrorists or any miscreants, more so because my apartment is on the main road. I couldn’t help but place myself in the situation. If it can happen in Mumbai, it can happen anywhere in India. You go to a restaurant to have dinner, a shopping mall, market and not sure if you will come back home alive.The turbulent time has declared its hegemony over us. I crouch at the thought of waking up to a morning where I have to run for my life. Being gunned by terrorists at a Railway Station is the last thing on every travellers mind. The instance actually manifested on 27 Nov, 08 at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus. I was there, two years ago, boarding a train to Hyderabad from Mumbai. Deserted and vacant roads are the last thing, one will find in Mumbai. The crowd was bursting at seams in the railway station. I loved that hustle bustle, typical of a railway station. Passengers, coolies, channa battani hawkers and everybody going about their business. The empty CST was staring at me stupefied from the TV footage that was playing.
I have seen terror attacks; the ruthless bomb blasts at Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi (twice) and we perhaps have become immune to terror. Every other day, you get to read a bomb blast and it soon became a common phenomenon. But the one that happened in Mumbai, which caused large scale damage, had beaten the breath out of me. My anxiety stems from the fact that Mumbai is one place that is close to my heart. My dalliance with Mumbai can be harked back to Jan 2007, when I had alighted in this HUGE city for a seminar, along with my history mam and one of my close friend’s Joyce. Mumbai evokes happy and proud memories as I was representing my college from Hyderabad at Mumbai. We spent three full days and two nights there. The moment I stepped out of the railway station, the first thing that caught me was the sight of the taxis. A city that I saw till yesterday on the TV had become a reality at that moment. The tangible factor, the very infrastructure corroborates the fact that it is a metropolitan city. Wide roads, tall buildings, huge bill boards greet you. We attended the seminar at Sophia college on Bulabai Desai road and the building just opposite to the to the college fascinated me. It resembled the Empire State Building at New York. It also sometimes referred to as mini New York by few. The sprawling city of Mumbai for me is a symbol of DREAMS and FREEDOM. Joyce and I were far from being nostalgic about Hyderabad. We were so in love with the city that we did not wanted to return when the time for departure had come. I had actually asked my mam to leave us here. But jokes apart, I was smitten by the city. I’m a true Hyderabadi to the core. Having said that, when I was in Bombay, Hyderabad appeared as a small town. Though my brought up was from the main stream city, I felt like a small town girl at Mumbai. We hired taxis to travel from college to shopping and from shopping to the convent. I sat next to the driver in the front seat while mam and Joyce perched at the back seat. I was in awe of the huge buildings as almost all buildings comprised floors that ranged from 15 to 20 on an average. The amusing part was that I began to count the number of the floors, when the taxi halted in the traffic and I got a panoramic view as I was sitting in the front. The driver along with Joyce and mam were in splits. It tickles my funny bone even at this moment as I’m narrating this event. I was very naughty and mam and Joyce had a tough time in keeping pace with my energy levels. My visit to Mumbai is rife with some pleasant experiences. The people were hospitable and so were the taxi drivers. There was not even a hint of deception and an effort made to take us for a ride as we were new. My mam strictly ordered Joyce and me to not to speak in Telugu, our native language. But it was obvious that anyone could figure out that we were new by the way we were moping about places. We visited places like Dhadar, Wadi, Crawford Street, Gandhi mart, Church gate etc. However, we couldn’t cover all places as there was barely any time left and we had pre-booked our tickets. Mumbai will always remain one of my favourite places though its image is now tarnished by terrorists. They might have tarnished the image but it is not irreparable. I always wanted to visit Mumbai again as I had not seen all the places and I will surely visit Mumbai again. Despite all this chaos, confusion, fear of terror, violence and loss, my love for the place will take me to the place. Mumbai will continue to be the happening metropolis and the commercial city of India.
Thus we fall, we rise and life goes on until we are shaken by another attack and this seems like a never ending vicious cycle. We are a population of one billion and I want to see how many will the terrorists suceed in killing? Damage done to property will be repairable but the wounds and trauma of the victims will never heal; it will leave them scarred forever. My deep condolences and commiserations to the sons of the soil: Cops and NGS Commando’s who gave their lives for country’s sake and three cheers to the NGG Commando’s for their painstaking efforts that reaped success in the operations executed against the terrorists.
1 comment:
wow, two months and no updates!!!! Genpact is keeping you this busy?? :)
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