I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. Is that what they call numbness? Disorientation? Maybe both…like I said, I don’t know what to think. I just know this: Most of us are feelin the same thing. I see my expression (or the lack of it) mirrored on my sister’s face…on my friend’s face….on my colleague’s face.
The past 48 hours have been, well, TOUGH (multiply that term into a thousand) on every Mumbai citizen, not to mention the many lives across the world associated with people here. When I first heard about the grenade and gunshots by terrorists at the Taj Hotel, Oberoi’s, and all those other places, I was on my way back from covering an awards ceremony two nights back. Seems like a lifetime ago.
Didn’t know how bad it was, till I switched my TV set on. And there’s another piece of my mind to all those who think the media is a bunch of circus idiots: you’re right sometimes. And you’re right all the time if it’s India TV we’re talking of. While I like perseverance, I don’t approve of insensitivity…which is what the media resorts to sometimes….hated the way they shoved microphones up the noses of the rescued hostages. You’ve just been through the worst nightmare of your life, you come into the light, and bam! 50 people crowding you with crappy questions. Yeah, you need rescuing of a different kind then.
Having said all that, some of these TV journos who didn’t sleep for two consecutive nights risking their lives to cover the horror…. maanna padega. This is relentless determination….(bordering on peskiness when in excess, which is the microphone example). And by the way, I’m excluding the lot of journos who were crazy enough to reveal the locations of the commandos and hostages on TV….psychos. The other lot which did sensible reporting….I’ll say we’re proud of these. Be cynical and call it a TRP GRP game, but life’s not worth that risk…however, they take it anyway. Because of them we knew it was unsafe to step out. And, we now know what those butcherers look like. And terrorists ARE the incarnation of the devil…not remotely human.
Imagine if we didn’t have TV or newspapers at home…and were holed up in our houses not knowing what the hell’s goin on outside. It’s as simple as that. It’s not a pretty picture either ways. I guess you have to ask yourself the question, what sucks more: the not knowing, or knowing too much? That will decide whether u want to throttle media or accept their existence.
And to those commandos and cops who braved it out despite the obsolete equipment that the government provides them with….you are the unsung heroes who will be forgotten after some time. But up there, the all-encompassing entity knows what you have done. and what you risked for it. You will be blessed for lifetimes to come. It’s a long term plan…just like those bastard terrorists will suffer torture for an eternity…wish that could be extended some more tho.
To those politicians who made this a political saga (what’s new), three words for you guys: ROT IN HELL.
As I hear of people I directly or indirectly knew being affected by the attack….yes, there is hatred…there is rage, there is anxiety, fear, even loss coursing through my veins right now. Went to office for some time today…only to come back home because of shootout rumours. I saw my fear echoing on everyone’s face around me on the streets. Spare me the ‘spirit of mumbai’ crap. No one wants to know what a bullet through the brain feels like. Not even Ricky Martin.
Right now, problems and myriad unanswered questions are plaguing all our minds. And no…there is no easy answer….here’s hoping for that miracle that uproots those cockroach terrorists once & for all…but till then, we have to deal with the many emotions that we are being subjected to, everytime something like this happens.
Like I said to a friend after I lost my grandfather in an accident: “Some things you don’t get over. You just learn to live with it.”
Hellow! 