Its been 4 days now since the ghastly terror attacks began. Absolutely all news channels covered the tragedy 24/7 without a commercial break. The entire country watched non-stop and almost even bragged about how they have been following the events diligently.
My eyes are now on the clock. I'm wondering how long it will be before everything returns back to normal and we forget all the angst and the anger and get absorbed in our daily humdrum again. I am wondering because the past says this is what happens all the time.
Every time there is a national calamity, India suddenly comes together and makes empty promises of doing something about it, about not letting things go by easily. Every time disaster hits the nation, media takes the mantle to lead the show but then looses track almost immediately. Every time we are faced with tragedy, we talk and then we forget.
Will we do the same this time around as well? Will we continue living helplessly and will we continue the numb existence even now? I know we will all say NO right now because the anger is alive right now. Right now we are all enraged/ aggrieved and hurt. Right now we all feel for what has happened and therefore right now, we all want to do something.
But change doesn't happen over night, does it? Revolutions don't come about just like that. Such things require time and slow and steady working. Such things require long term unity, diligence and patience. So now I ask us again, are we going to do anything about this? Do we have it in us to bring about the change and the revolution that is actually required?
Chances are we will all wonder "But what can we do?". Well I think there are things we can do - small things but meaningful things, things that will bring about a change slowly but surely.
We can all start with NOT FORGETTING what has just happened. We should NOT let this angst, this anger fizzle out. We should not fall prey to our own weakness of "going with the flow" this time around. Why should only those who have suffered be the only ones to remember this? Do we also have to go through a personal loss to then remember tragedies like these?
I think not. Enough has happened for us to keep this alive. Only if we keep this memory alive, will we be resolute about making India a better and a safer place to live in. Only if we remember all those innocent lives taken in this brutal act of terrorism, will we want to be a part of the slow revolution that is sure to take place.
So remember we must and to make sure we do that, I for one will try and write as much and as often on this forum as possible. I am not expecting any of us to dedicate our lives to this cause - we are not Gandhis - but we surely can spare half an hour or so thinking about this everyday.
I will make sure I don't let this die inside me and I hope others agree with me and do the same.
I will continue writing on http://thejarbag.blogspot.com/ and request everyone to pour their thoughts as well on the platform. Today, we have the power of the Web - lets make the RIGHT use of it. It is not in vain when they say "Together we CAN make a difference". Like every drop counts, every thought counts and maybe thought after thought from our collective thinking will lead to something, someday.
About Me
- Apeksha
- I do not have a one-liner for myself and writing anything more than a line here would amount to vanity and/ or boredom. Best left unsaid, even though I've already said so much.
3 comments:
all of us have been glued to the TV or the cell phones to get the update of whats going on in mumbai ... and it s been gloomy days!
i belive .. this is the beginning of something .... let s see what s in store ...
Even the Olympics torch flickers out into oblivion for 4 years, as the grand event draws to a close,until it is re-ignited when the next venue beckons the advent of yet another glorious chapter. Today, atleast we acknowledge that we do exactly the same in our lives... No, i dont mean that we go about participating in the olympics!! Im addressing the truth of us having a short lived memory. Today, everyone is talking about the Mumbai horrific siege... yet we seem to have neatly tucked away the memory of Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bangalore (oops..Bengaluru!) and relegated it to a dark and spacious nook in our mind. So, to make way for the new horror, we gotta shift the old horrors to the backburners. Let me be the first to acknowledge the same (after Apeksha, ofcourse!)
Lets face it... once the dust settles, what good can come out of raking dead issues? After all, we have to concentrate on the future... let bygones be bygones, right? Perhaps in such times, all of us will admit to the guilt. Its sad to see that a nation of 1.1 billion is unable to rake up a fortification of patriotism, thats much stronger than the Great Wall of China. The last time terror struck big in America (9/11), the Americans didnt let that go past. The President was hed accountable for results. The consequences of the same may be debatable, but the feeling of initiating action was undeniably crisp and swift.
"But what can we do??" For starters, we can do away with this thought! In a USD 1 trillion economy that is India, even the pan-walla is responsible for GDP creation! So each voice, each life counts. Perhaps this is the first time that Indians have spoken out this vociferously about the state of affairs they desire....the need for basic safety for them and their families, over and above anything else; a sense of fearlessness and security in their homes. And if a government cannot provide for the same, each one of us... you, me, and everyone else who is tagged Indian.. we will ensure they are not in the chair of governance.
Think about it... how will a transformation; a metamorphosis be brought about?? Its simple. A nation of aware, and emotive people can make or topple governments/ support systems. I think "x" is a better candidate for giving us what we consider as hygiene factors today... so does my neighbour.. and his neighbour... and so on and so forth. The result.... our friendly, powerful politician in power all of a sudden gets stripped of the "Z" class security!! Next to go.. his seat of power! All this gets diverted towards all those who need this security... which is our nation at large!
Mahatma Gandhi had captured the essence of all I wanted to convey via this forum, when he said... "we must become the change we want to see"... is India listening?! Thank you Apeksha for your wonderfully worded thoughts on this.... keep writing... dont let the fire flicker away!
Cant believe this has happened to Mumbai… Cant believe we let this happen to us.
Like every Indian I have my own story to tell. I too lost some dear ones ( People I knew and people I didn’t know) but cannot seem to mourn their death as something tells me that its not over yet and this is never going to end.
Like most Indians I Stayed Up for 60 hrs and waited till they flushed out the militants!!
FLUSHED OUT THE MILITANTS..!! DO YOU BELIEVE THAT SHIT!!
They are still out there celebrating and planning their next trip to one of our cities.
Next Time maybe 40 killers will do the trick.
Meanwhile what are we doing ….
We are writing expressive detailed blogs, wearing black & white T-shirts ( not sure because Us ‘Indians’ seem to have differences on what colours to wear) , we are getting really angry, protesting on the streets , each protesting group doesn’t seem to agree with the other and last but not the least Looking for someone to BLAME. Apparently doing the above helps to express ourselves and helps us relieve ourselves of the guilt that each one of us feels deep inside. Let us internalise this anger and focus on what needs to be done NOW.
What have all of us felt
Do we feel helpless… YES!
Do we feel sorry… YES!
Do we feel scared … YES!
Do we feel angry … YES!
And Now what!!.. Everybody is feeling it so now what ??
DEATH IS ONLY FOR THE LIVING!!.. The dead are not aware of this and its only the living that seems to be suffering. We cannot imagine for one moment what the innocents felt seconds before they died. We just cant ……..all we have is a certain empty & heavy feeling which does not and will not go away this time.
Let me ease the mood with a few jokes
1) manmohan
2) sonia
3) vilasrao
4) r r patil
5) raj thackrey
6) most definitely shivraj patil
7) advani
8) YOU
9) ME
10) INDIANS
Let me explain a Term used by most people often in the past few days
They call it ‘ Spirit of Mumbai’ which
= ‘ Memory Loss’
= ‘ Until next time’
= ‘ You can FUCK us anytime and anyplace’
= ‘ We are Worlds Biggest Hypocrites’ ( This also applies to all Indians )
Lets Change the meaning this time. See what misery the CHALTA HAI Attitude has brought to all of us Indians.
Like all of us I don’t know what needs to be done. I am like a bad indian joke who doesn’t know who is laughing at me or for what reason.
Its a shitty feeling and at the moment I am absolutely DEVOID of National Pride.
All I know is that this time we need to DO something. Not talk or shout but DO something.
When 9/11 happened I wasn’t sure whether what America did was the correct but now I seem to understand much better. We need answers from the government and we need it NOW! Someone has done this and that someone needs to GO. They need to feel the Shiver in their spines the next time a thought of doing something like this even crosses their minds.
We owe this to the families of the innocents who died.
All majors associations need to get together to pressurize the government into getting answers. We need to set them deadlines. In order to protest we need to do what Indians are best at doing but we need to do it together.
Starting from a certain date lets do NOTHING. Just STOP everything. STOP going to work. FREEZE TOGETHER until we are reassured by the government of their plan of action. This will work only if we are together as a NATION.
Of what use is the frickin GDP if our people do not live to see it or live in absolute fear.( Cant get over the fact that two people were walking around shooting innocents with smiles on their face.. just cant… This thought and various images haunt me every fifteen mins….This is the only time I ever had regrets of bringing a child into this world)
This needs to be done by all major associations and chambers of commerce.
Hit the Government where it hurts. Its unfortunate that in order to get results. we have to fight our own people first or revolt in a fashion which wakes up the people who run this country. The Central & State government is also under lots of pressure but they have to come out with answers soon.
Meanwhile we need to prepare ourselves in case they do not.
I am on the executive council of the BIA ( Bombay Industries Association ) and have spoken to the president of our association this Saturday. We will be meeting early this week to discuss what can be done. We will then speak with other associations like FICCI, CCI etc in order to come together. This will be followed by schools & colleges. We will start small but definitely progress in a steady manner. Its important to stay prepared. What I suggest and appeal to my fellow citizens is start speaking with the associations you are related to and come together.
Each one us can definitely bring at least one item to the Table … US!
To be Continued………………
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