26/11: Lest We Forget

Few more hours to the anniversary of one of the most dreadful day in the history of Mumbai and India. A day, that left some permanent scars in the minds of people who witnessed it. For some people like me though, these scars are deep enough to create a pronounced change in mental disposition.

26/11 anniversary has been blown out proportions by myriad news channels, remembering heroes (martyrs, no less), the families they've left behind, and the status quo of the Indo-Pak affairs. But none of the channels, I'm afraid, had the balls (read: guts) to retrospect as to what changes 26/11 has made to our foreign policy. I have my serious doubts (and you would agree) about the current safety the Common Man as compared to the previous year. People are as insecure and vulnerable (you bet, even more) today as they were an year back.. Apart from luckily getting hold of Mr. Kasab (his sheer bad luck, I would believe) and questioning him about some dumb elementary facts, our government has nothing to claim as an achievement. Our Politicos are busy defending Liberhans of the world and creating a fracas over Sachin Tendulkar's Marathi/Indian issue. While Hemant Karkare died using some third class (Made in China, I believe) bullet proof jackets, Mr. Gafoor is busy blaming other "senior officials" who refused the Call of Duty. Pakistan has been known to keep some proven terrorist under "house-arrest". Who cares..

Politicians/Mumbai Police/Pakistan, Balls to You!
At the Common Man's point of view, let me tell you what changes 26/11 made to life.. Today, leave aside CST station, I'm scared to travel in Local Trains of Mumbai. I feel terrified when I'm alone is crowded public places.. I always have a sense of insecurity around me when it comes to visiting unknown uninhibited places..

With all due respect to all those people who gave away their lives in lieu of public safety and love of mother nation, I think Mr. Chitambaram, and the govt of India need to do some serious thinking about the way forward. Mr. Singh, presently on his visit to US need to learn some tactics of how did they manage to avoid another 9/11 and increase social security of denizens. Nevertheless, for all the common men like us.. Couldn't care less.

Courage: The Cowardly Dog

With anniversary to 26/11 approaching, I'm still perplexed and befuddled by the periphery of an individual's courage.

I intentionally named the post "Courage: The Cowardly Dog" after an animated series on Cartoon Network. The series revolves around the exploits of Courage, a small dog who, despite his name, is ironically afraid of the most mundane things. His fears are normally justified, however, his masters, and Courage are constantly attacked by various monsters, aliens, villains, curses, experiments, natural disasters, and other forms of peril that Courage must face and do whatever it takes to keep them, and himself safe.

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's father (the dauntless soldier of NSG who reached martyrdom on 26/11) made a statement that "People want a Bhagat Singh, but in a neighbour's house". How appropriate, Sir. Today, and I resentfully admit, the Common Man is buried in clutter of social obligations. And when it comes to making a choice, and I completely agree, he is paralyzed by his vested interests.

As someone rightfully puts it - "Courage is not the absence of fear. it is the conviction that something is more important than fear". But the question is where do you draw the line? When do you tell yourself, "This is it, I will not take this anymore". Just the other day, in the untimely November Rains of Mumbai, my friend and I were waiting for a cab to drop us home. The cabbies, trying to make the most of the adversities people were in, refused to stop by. 30 minutes went by and we were all drenched, when I realized, this isn't going to happen just by standing alongside of the road, asking them to stop. It was then I took the courage to stand in the middle of the road to stop a cab, and have the balls to be prepared to knocked off - if the driver intends to do so. I jammed the traffic for 5 mins, on a rainy night and on a narrow mumbai road, but then, the driver stepped out and opened the door until I got in.

Courage, I think, is the ability to really stop and look fear in the face. But I'm afraid, you don't find it in many. I'm not trying to claim that a soldier at the border is the only one with courage. But the Common Man shouldn't believe that the daily struggles of survival are replaceable to courage. Your wife, kids and mortgage are your duties, but courage is when you stand up to defend them, and yourself.

I would end this post with an open ended question.. Does the periphery of your courage end at the point when it comes to you and your family?

A Fundamentalist Muslim

Just read a comment by Mr. Bal Thackeray " Fundamentalist Muslim is the biggest threat to India."

Just a quick recall of the real definition of Fundamentalism -

fun·da·men·tal·ism (fnd-mntl-zm)

n.

1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

2.

a. often Fundamentalism An organized, militant Evangelical movement originating in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century in opposition to Protestant Liberalism and secularism, insisting on the inerrancy of Scripture.

b. Adherence to the theology of this movement.

Mr. Thackeray, with all due respect, I beg to differ on your statement. India today is equally threatened by the "in-house" home-grown fundamentalists like you. The only contribution that you have made to Indian politics is to induce the acts of regional violences. The gorilla warfare driven by local "Hindu Fundamentalists" is creating a schism in local psychology..

I think "influential" politicos like you cant be myopic and biased in making statements like these.. Fundamentalism cant be a one-faced coin.. If you dare to call some-one a "north indian" or a "marathi" you are being equally fundamentalistic as any other pro-terror Muslim..

You, Mr. Thackeray, i think, with all the limited days left in your life, have a bigger task in hand, supporting causes which are for the greater good of greater number of people. Shivsena as we know is done and dusted in recent polls..

You need to move on from the petty Valentine Day Protests, marathi/Non-marathi, anti-muslim issues. Making mumbai and maharashtra is a marathi ghetto wont help the cause of anyone.. Neither yours.

Salam India.

Clarity & Mentality..

Just returned from Alumni Homecoming in XIM-B.. There was an amazing thought shared by an Alumnus about the clarity of objectives in life..

Sometimes my mind tends to wander about zillions of issues and at the end of the day, you are lost. The title "Clarity & Mentality" occurred to me through a bit of introspection on personal front. It's not a rocket science to pen down the priorities in life.. The "one-size-fits-all" approach can leave you in tantrums. Clarity of the things you want in life always helps you to break out of the clutter and stay focussed. Choosing your priorities helps you devote necessary time to individual activities and then build on them..

The Mentality part is interesting.. The sense of inner worth tends to be the prerequisite for almost any kind of worldly fulfillment. With a plethora of hysteria around you though out the day, you need to keep yourself motivated to keep yourself going. The "No-shit" attitude works wonders, at least has worked for me, in times when I was tested..

Gosh! Sounds like HR faff........ Good mental masturbation nevertheless!

The Great Indian Middle Class!

You know you belong to the Great Indian Middle Class when.....

1. You haggle the Taxi Driver for 5 bucks, when you couldn't careless about thousands of those in a party..
2. You wash clothes on your own, when you know you can "get it done" on your own..
3. Pirated DVDs are still the mantra for family entertainment.
4. Point 1 goes for you good old colony "Sabji-wala"
5. You always asks the Gol-gappe wala to give you that 'extra' one piece which you've not paid for
6. You still prefer taking the train to home



..to be continued..

Look Who's Talkin'..

How can Pakistan fight terror if its interior minister is a moron who thinks India is funding the Taliban? Besides, even if Pakistan has the will to fight terror, which I doubt, its government lacks the brains to do so..

The 3 eternal truths about the foreign policy are - Pakistan hates us, China envies us and Americans only know their interests.

The Box of Memories..

..and, we're back! Blogging after a long time.. Somehow i always find excuses not to pen down my thoughts in a more concrete way.. Thanks to twitter and facebook..

"Box of Memories" came to my mind while i was discussing some lowdowns with an old pal.. One small talk kind of took me back to the times of my life, i'd rather forget..

I think each of our bad memories are kept in a far fetched corner of our brain, in the shape of boxes.. all these boxes are juxta-positioned, linked to each other by small pieces of threads.. That corner in the brain has a big "No Entry" board over it's door.. Someone who pokes into the door, and fiddles with one of the boxes.. Starts the chain reaction of all other bad memories..