The city never dies!
So someone bombed my home city yesterday. If there was a time when I felt paralyzed with fear, it was last night. A small marquee running down the local news channel turned to breaking news turned to communications jam turned to hard-hitting panic! Those 2+ hours that I couldn't get through home and the for the 12+ hours with no connection to close friends, were easily the most helpless hours of my life. I've *never* felt so miserable, powerless. Half my family (dad, brother, uncles, cousins, et al) was 'out there', and could've been anywhere on *that* line. I just felt so wretched. All I did was stare at the repeated scenes on the news channels, with my finger constantly on redial. After the inital wave of misery, anger poured in, first at the bombers and then the imbeciles who call themselves Reporters. A Mr. Farookh something from an Indian daily (dnaindia or some such) was 'on display' on BBC, filling the gaps between incoming death toll with crass comments about the inefficient railway and the hospital systems, Govt., etc. Then he went on to elucidate his point by telling us about his college days, when he would 'hang' onto the pole while travelling in a local train. But the BBC correspondent, Nisha Pillai, was an excellent compere and did a good job with disseminating relevant information.
I wasn't worried just for the people I knew and cared about.. it was a thread that runs deeper than kin and binds each person in Bombay with others. For years we the people of Bombay have known the city to be special, unlike any other in the country or even the world. When you've lived in Bombay for a good part of your life, you develop a unique identity. Bombay teaches you things you'll never learn in any other part of the world. Sometimes harsh, sometimes with a smile, the city leaves its mark on you in one way or another. Love it, hate it, but you can't turn away from it.
Few things in life are introduced to be more evil than Bombay - the big bad city. Even before a child takes his first step, he knows he shouldn't trust strangers and be careful on the road. Later he learns to compute his rickshaw fare faster than a super computer, and treats his wallet dearer than life at crowded places. The Bombay instinct doesn't need a map to know when it is being 'taken for a ride'. In the city of dormant law, money and muscle talk louder than hunger or pain. A place where every two-year old knows the meaning of chalu. Its a city of small time crooks and big mafia. A city where its too easy to get lost in the bylanes, but easier still to lose oneself in the glitz and glamour. A city of close-door abuses and open-air flirting. Yeah, it does sound like a big, bad city. But for all its badness, it doesn't deserve THIS!!! A bunch of maniacs blowing up the lifeline of the city to support their fight for justice? Whatever justice that maybe, it can never justify the terror unleashed last evening!
Just a few titbits of information that reached me in the last 24 hours:
* A colleague (working here for an outsourced project to a Bombay firm) has lost a male colleague in the blasts. He was going back home early to surprise his wife.
* A friend's mother who works in town and returns home to Andheri by Western line, had decided to take the day off. Her travel companion, whom she hadn't informed, missed their regular 6pm train waiting for her at Churchgate.
* My college friend, who works at Opera House, was due to come home early (Andheri) for a doctor's appointment. She couldn't complete her work in time and was held back.
* Another friend and her hubby stayed the night at their respective offices and got home in the wee hours of the morning.
* An uncle was in VT for a conference and couldn't be reached on phone for a long time. I believe he slept in the conference hall.
* Close friend C and four ladies in her office managed to get the company car to drop them home. The roads were jammed, and C was mindlessly gazing at the chaos when a little fist knocked on her window and said, "Aunty, aunty, biscuit le lo, aap bhuke hona!" Then, she noticed mothers in the slums nearby sending their little kids to the local bania for packets of biscuits and water bottles! There were as many kids on the road as young boys distributing these for free to hapless commuters returning home after a long, tiring day.
* C's colleague's father was travelling in the train that went down at Mahim. The compartment next to him was blown away and he saw about 40-odd bodies covered in the blood bath. He went sick in the stomach.
* When the limited police men chose to leave the dead strewn around, in a bid to help those alive, people from the slums nearby wrapped the bodies in bedsheets, blankets, lungis, whatever they could find and transported them to the hospitals for identification.
* It is much contemplated that the bomb that went off at Jogeshwari was actually intended for Andheri, which is a larger and busier station. In which case, the death toll would have escalated tremendously! (Note: This is only a hearsay! Pls don't quote this!!!)
Basically, all is safe at my home. But all is not sound. It's going to take us all sometime to recover from this mass-tragedy. And while I'm on that topic, I'd like to say that *today* should have been declared a holiday for schools and offices! The 'never-say-die' spirit of the city wouldn't have taken a beating if people were allowed to recover their mental well-being for a while. It would also help in reducing a whole lot of traffic on the roads which are most needed by emergency services at this time! There are still a lot of people out there running from one hospital to another between Matunga to Borivali. If the office-goers had stayed off the road / trains, I'm sure these folks would have used the extra space.
Also, in the long run, Bombay needs to focus on emergency medical training for all. Most of the times, the common man is the only hope for those critcally minutes, before any official help arrives.
And lastly, I'd apprecite if anyone could point me to creditable organisations where a small financial donation can be made. Its the least I can do my most beloved city: Bombay, a melting pot par excellence.
I wasn't worried just for the people I knew and cared about.. it was a thread that runs deeper than kin and binds each person in Bombay with others. For years we the people of Bombay have known the city to be special, unlike any other in the country or even the world. When you've lived in Bombay for a good part of your life, you develop a unique identity. Bombay teaches you things you'll never learn in any other part of the world. Sometimes harsh, sometimes with a smile, the city leaves its mark on you in one way or another. Love it, hate it, but you can't turn away from it.
Few things in life are introduced to be more evil than Bombay - the big bad city. Even before a child takes his first step, he knows he shouldn't trust strangers and be careful on the road. Later he learns to compute his rickshaw fare faster than a super computer, and treats his wallet dearer than life at crowded places. The Bombay instinct doesn't need a map to know when it is being 'taken for a ride'. In the city of dormant law, money and muscle talk louder than hunger or pain. A place where every two-year old knows the meaning of chalu. Its a city of small time crooks and big mafia. A city where its too easy to get lost in the bylanes, but easier still to lose oneself in the glitz and glamour. A city of close-door abuses and open-air flirting. Yeah, it does sound like a big, bad city. But for all its badness, it doesn't deserve THIS!!! A bunch of maniacs blowing up the lifeline of the city to support their fight for justice? Whatever justice that maybe, it can never justify the terror unleashed last evening!
Just a few titbits of information that reached me in the last 24 hours:
* A colleague (working here for an outsourced project to a Bombay firm) has lost a male colleague in the blasts. He was going back home early to surprise his wife.
* A friend's mother who works in town and returns home to Andheri by Western line, had decided to take the day off. Her travel companion, whom she hadn't informed, missed their regular 6pm train waiting for her at Churchgate.
* My college friend, who works at Opera House, was due to come home early (Andheri) for a doctor's appointment. She couldn't complete her work in time and was held back.
* Another friend and her hubby stayed the night at their respective offices and got home in the wee hours of the morning.
* An uncle was in VT for a conference and couldn't be reached on phone for a long time. I believe he slept in the conference hall.
* Close friend C and four ladies in her office managed to get the company car to drop them home. The roads were jammed, and C was mindlessly gazing at the chaos when a little fist knocked on her window and said, "Aunty, aunty, biscuit le lo, aap bhuke hona!" Then, she noticed mothers in the slums nearby sending their little kids to the local bania for packets of biscuits and water bottles! There were as many kids on the road as young boys distributing these for free to hapless commuters returning home after a long, tiring day.
* C's colleague's father was travelling in the train that went down at Mahim. The compartment next to him was blown away and he saw about 40-odd bodies covered in the blood bath. He went sick in the stomach.
* When the limited police men chose to leave the dead strewn around, in a bid to help those alive, people from the slums nearby wrapped the bodies in bedsheets, blankets, lungis, whatever they could find and transported them to the hospitals for identification.
* It is much contemplated that the bomb that went off at Jogeshwari was actually intended for Andheri, which is a larger and busier station. In which case, the death toll would have escalated tremendously! (Note: This is only a hearsay! Pls don't quote this!!!)
Basically, all is safe at my home. But all is not sound. It's going to take us all sometime to recover from this mass-tragedy. And while I'm on that topic, I'd like to say that *today* should have been declared a holiday for schools and offices! The 'never-say-die' spirit of the city wouldn't have taken a beating if people were allowed to recover their mental well-being for a while. It would also help in reducing a whole lot of traffic on the roads which are most needed by emergency services at this time! There are still a lot of people out there running from one hospital to another between Matunga to Borivali. If the office-goers had stayed off the road / trains, I'm sure these folks would have used the extra space.
Also, in the long run, Bombay needs to focus on emergency medical training for all. Most of the times, the common man is the only hope for those critcally minutes, before any official help arrives.
And lastly, I'd apprecite if anyone could point me to creditable organisations where a small financial donation can be made. Its the least I can do my most beloved city: Bombay, a melting pot par excellence.