Much has been written of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai , that left almost 200 hundred people dead, over 300 hundred injured, broken and marred National treasures (heritage buildings), a beat -up police force, broken hearts, a pained city and an outraged Nation.
Watching news everyday its common to hear a bomb blast today , a firing yesterday , a gun battled tomorrow ... hmmm.. that is the stark reality of the world we live in today. But there are some heinous act that shake the core of Humanity , acts that bring chills , tears, anger, frustrations and despite their grossness they also evoke compassion and the best in people in times of grave adversity. 26 th Nov 2008 like 11th Sept 2001 will be one such moment in History. (Though we could truly have done without it )
Watching news everyday its common to hear a bomb blast today , a firing yesterday , a gun battled tomorrow ... hmmm.. that is the stark reality of the world we live in today. But there are some heinous act that shake the core of Humanity , acts that bring chills , tears, anger, frustrations and despite their grossness they also evoke compassion and the best in people in times of grave adversity. 26 th Nov 2008 like 11th Sept 2001 will be one such moment in History. (Though we could truly have done without it )
I am an Indian , a Mumbaikar... I am not going to recount the chronological order of event of those 3/4 days .. we all know , we saw .. the world saw with us . I really want to talk about the extraordinary spirit to survive , to live on , to defeat and not be defeated that prevails at the end of extraordinary tragedies .
The bravery of those in uniform and those without them is unmatchable. And no measure of compensation is going to take even an ounce of the pain away. There was no one who was not touched by this incident. I remember speaking to my mom on Saturday . With a lump in her throat, she told me how she had been watching the telecast the whole day and that "today we can sleep in peace because those soldiers there are fighting it out with their own lives ". This is the same sentiment that is echoing throughout the country today .
But is this enough??? No , its not enough . Tolerance is one thing , but being taken for granted is completely different . We are a sovereign nation ,we have the right to protect ourselves , our leaders , our govt we have the right to hold them accountable. But wecan stake claim to this right only if we exercise it . We need to first hold ourselves accountable. Do we show pride in our country ? our armed forces ? our system ? our way of life ? Do we care or value the greatest right and priveledge given to us of Freedom and franchise?
In this time and age , we are global citizens and our destinies are shared . We cant blame wars wedged on ideologies, religion and economic power(we have our own differences), we cant blame the system for failures (we are the system), we cant question the cheap politics of our politicians(we are that politics) , we cannot just sit and watch our treasures , our countries and our peoples dignities plundered like this .
Though they may seem corny , but words of the Mahatma never rang more true,"We have to be the change we seek" . Its time we took pride in our country , our people , our economy , our institutions , our education, our system, our culture, our festivals, our lives and most of all our selves. Let us defeat the forces of terror and intimidation , with unity of our minds and actions and our defiance. Its time we let the world know that we will not sit quiet , we will not take this one , not this time not one more time . We will fiercely protect our freedom and our right to live . We will come together , we are One Nation , One people and in one voice lets be loud and clear ..PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN
JAI HIND!!
