The Illusion of Progress

How far will it go?
What happened today is the Indian equivalent of 9/11. But will it have the same political and emotional significance as 9/11 did in the US? No, it wont. Because, Terrorism has been recently inducted to the "Chalta Hai" list.

The Chalta Hai list already has illustrious members such as corruption, unemployment, domestic violence, and illiteracy.

As the name suggests, this list contains the things Indians, by and large, don't give a f*ck about. Of course, there will always exist the cosmetic hue and cry, but once it all settles down, we'll still be on square one.

That is because, through years and years of boasting about our culture and history, somewhere, somewhen, we lost a little something - Humanity. Humanity is what makes us open our doors to help strangers, it is what makes us stop our cars and help an injured man to a hospital, it is what makes us give up our seats to an old woman, it is what makes us trust.

Now, humanity has been replaced by its distant evil twin - Fear. It is what makes us sit at home and refuse to help, it is what convinces us to not donate blood, it is what makes us flinch on hearing "AIDS".

Now I am not telling you to open up an NGO or anything, but what everyone has to do is reply. Terrorists thrive on fear - they just need a reply. In the 1993 bombay riots, the people reopened the shops despite the threats - as a reply. Look at us, so pathetic. Most in Mumbai haven't stepped out of their homes, not even to help the injured.

I don't ask for patriotism, but spirit.

Did you see the attackers? They were kids, almost my age. The actual fiends who manipulated them into doing this are probably watching them die on TV. The kids are the ones who get shot, who will be imprisoned, probably tortured.

I won't comment on the terrorists' deed, i wont dignify them with that. I think my thoughts will echo everybody else's anyway.

What the "top secret agencies" need to target right now are the terrorist camps. They contain the most evil of them all - those who make human beings into barbarians. Thats probably the most cruel deed of all - making children kill.

I wont comment on our govt. either, because if they havent done anything about this yet, they wont do it in the future. All I can say is that our govt. looks weak. Almost all politicians i see on TV sound like they are reading their speeches from a book (which they probably do).

Current mood : Bleak