sometimes i wonder, whether time makes us heal or does it make us forget. Three weeks are over, and the fourth begins
For Those Who Died
The road to justice has yet to be sighted 
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Dec 172008
Dec 162008
The Facebook forwards are dying out. So are the SMS’s. Most people have either moved on with their lives, or decided to act. And, in the third week it is pleasently surprised to see how many people have actually decided to donate time and energy to ‘do something’.
whether that ‘something’ is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is a matter of perspective. But, atleast many I know have come out of their comfort zone and begun discussing issues, looking at the law, looking at local self government, and interactions at the local level. The intention is there. it is the third week, and many people from the first week are still there – putting in time, energy and effort.
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Anjana, my masseuse had come over yesterday. She and i usually have interesting conversations. And, she is one of the reasons that my use of the language has increased and consequently improved is her.
She only talked about the victims at CST. She told me that she was terrified of travelling by train now. I asked her if the previous years train blasts hadn’t bothered her ? She said that they did and this has made her more fearful.
She wondered at what kind of boys will kill innocent people. While she was all for war she also admitted that the reason this happened was because we are disuited. ‘look at maharashtra’ she said ‘ vilasrao’ and ‘rr patil’ nehmi bandtat (always fight) and they let outsiders in. Raj ‘ne te tamasha kele ne baherche lokan baddal, bagha kay zala. Baheroon yevoon amhala marle.” (Raj talked about ousiders, and look what happened. outsiders came and killed us’. She said that we will never learn from history. we always fight and let the outsider attack !
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There seems to be an increased sense of paranoia. We went to see Rab Ne last week, and A mentioned after the superficial (and hence superfluous) security check that a place like that will be the next target. so many soft innocent targets. L & I shouted ‘shut up’ in synch. Having said that I had similar thoughts when I had gone to college !
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Dec 032008
this was supposed to be a longish post, till my dad pointed out that “Indian Intelligence” is an oxymoron. It is used for finding out who, in politics, sleeps with whom.
There are rumours that India has Intelligence Agencies. Their existence is possibly an Accounting Head, to show cash outflows. It is like other fictional concepts like political unity in the face of a crisis, national interest, journalistic ethics, honest politicians.
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Dec 022008
A friend called me up after this post. “not fair” he said. “Pimps are honest – they tell you what they do and how much they charge”. So i apologise to all the pimps who may be offended by that post. I didn’t mean to insult you.
Now I might as well be democratic. piss off all media companies simultaneously 
There is someone in Times Now who has lost their sense of perspective. There is a feed of the cc camera tape running. it seems unedited. what next ? a live feed of two people having sex ? NDTV is broadcasting the police briefing to the CM at the Taj and the Oberoi. ‘tyana strangulate kela’ says the cop to the CM.
Star News has a recreation of the events of 26/11 – on a show called City 60 where the voice over artist ( i am sure that it can’t be a journalist) has voiced the piece – it cannot be a story – with the urgency of someone covering the Derby. it is followed by a piece on the mourning in Jerusalem accompanied by music out of a Ramsey horror show episode.
Sansani is scaring the hell out of me. it is telling the terrorist or the potential armed robber how to breach mall security. Sneak into the basement 101
And there was Barkha who had a question as long as a dissertation. if you have the answer in the question then why call the guests ?
Why don’t our TV journalists let other people speak? many of them don’t know enough to be filling that much air time- though ‘woefully ill informed’ and ‘foolishly speculative’ would be more apt. Which possibly explains why the get celebrities who are more stupid and more proactive than them. Simi Garewal anyone ? Are there no people called editors in news channels anymore – people who look at content and ensure that it follows the law of the land and keep the channel from being shut down in violation of broadcasting laws.
What are channels trying to do? Goad the people to demand war or to start rioting ? That would be good for TRP’s.
And finally, which of them is telling the truth.
NDTV headlines
NDTV Online
or
ibn
ibn
or is Pranab Mukherjee identical twins with the same name, and someone forgot to tell us?
Technorati Tags: Times Now, Star News, 26/11, City 60, Sansani
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Nov 272008
And it happened again. Except with a difference. This time there were armed gun men spraying in addition to bombs.
My brother was getting home from Chembur. He had gone for a colleague’s wedding. And, he got late. and later. and even later. We turned on the news – mom usually does. and she froze. There were bombs and bullets and more on the news. And then the networks jammed. JD called back. he was safe. travelling in a rick. near the airport.
and then he didn’t turn up. and the networks didin’t work. and we saw the news about a car blast in Vile Parle – near the airport. My mom – went to the kitchen and began looking out. The dog went nuts and began barking the placed down.
And, then the key turned and my brother walked in through the door. He got stuck in traffic behind the blown up car.
28 60 other people won’t be walking into their homes. ever. Someone – with some stupid cause – decided to murder them.
Update
Hemant Karkare – Maharashtra ATS head – RIP. 5 other policemen die in the line of duty
Updates
Twitter has regular updates on traffic. possibly more reliable than news channels. Here are the Mumbai feeds
Mumbai Help is updating here
here
Vinu has photographs up here on flickr
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Putra - child ; shoka - grief.
My paternal grandmother had 7 children. 3 survive. The remaining 4 died between the ages of 3 months and 2 years. She accepted it as Karma. But, despite that she couldn’t help grieving, every so often I would find her with tears in her eyes. And one day she told me that the worst kind of grief or pain that a person could face was ‘putrashoka’ – grief on the loss of a child. In later years she amended that statement – she saw a whole bunch of next to next generation go awry. Her reaction was that ‘putrashoka’ was grief on the loss of a child not just to death, but to ‘adharma’. She had a very strong definition of dharma and adharma.
My maternal grandmother lost her son – my mama - when he was 58. He died of cancer. She was broken. She told me pretty much the same thing – putrashoka is devestating. and, then she referred to someone we know who was addicted to narcotics and said, I am sure that the boy’s parents are facing worse putrashoka – even if he is still alive. Atleast, my son did his duty.
Putrashoka is not an absolute – it, like most other emotions, falls in a spectrum. There is grief caused by death. There is also grief caused by a ‘child’ who has gone astray; grief caused by a ‘child’ who doesn’t care anymore (perceptually); various kinds of grief.
Somehow, over the last few of days the term ‘putrashoka‘ has been floating in my brain quite a bit. All of us, in different ways cause our parents hurt and grief. Hopefully, these are out of thoughtlessness rather than deliberate desire to hurt. A phone call not made, a visit that doesn’t happen, a raised voice, shutting them out of our lives … my parents face it, yours may too. They may say something, or say nothing. Depends on their own pride. My parents will not say anything, but i can sometimes see it in their eyes.
This morning’s report in the Indian Express on two different grieving mothers brought home the concept of putrashoka.
This is from the mother of Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma – who died in the shoot out in Delhi:
“I won’t cry any more,†she said. “He did not die in an accident or of any disease. He is martyr, and if everyone is raising slogans for him I will do the same.”
And, then there is the other mother. the mother of Atif, young man who was killed in the same incident. (aside : the word incident is so inadequate to describe what happened at Jamia Nagar, but for now it has to suffice). The young man who was allegedly planning to blow up innocents across the country.
“How can anybody kill innocent people? Everybody’s life is precious, everyone loves their children. If he was in the right, then let Allah take this daag (blot) away from him,†she says.
One mother has the answer to why her son died. Mohan Chand Sharma’s mother knows and has the pride that her son gave his life to protect more innocents from being blown up. It may give her solace when grief overwhelms her.
Atif’s mother possibly knows that her son’s death would prevent more people from getting blown up – and that’s because he was the one blowing them up. and, her grief may be exacerbated by the guilt that she couldn’t do a damn to prevent his actions. She couldn’t have — but guilt is not very rational…
And, then there are those mothers whose children don’t come home because a bomb blew them up….
Putrashoka — grief on the loss of a child….
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May 172008
“The rest of India will feel what Assam has been feeling about Bangladesh. If something isn’t done, it won’t be long before Assam is overcome by Bangladesh” said my friend ,who is from Assam. She said there were parts of Assam in which people say this in a very matter of fact way.
This is in the aftermath of the Jaipur Bombings – where scores have died and where press reports seem to indicate that the bombers spoke Bengali. Already there is kb’s of stuff on the why’s and how’s of Bangladeshi terrorists as opposed to Pakistani terrorists.
A lot of the papers have spoken about Bangladeshi illegal immigrants – estimated at around 20 million, who could now become the target for increased security vigilance & deportation. Two questions arise here. a) how do you know that they are Banladeshi’s and not from West Bengal b) If you know that they are from Bangladesh and illegal immigrants, why are they still here ?
Why are there 20 million Bangladeshi’s illegally in India – because x thousand Indians have taken money to look the other way while they cross the border. y more thousand do not check papers before hiring because the illegal immigrant costs a fraction of local labour. z more thousand realise that they are illegal immigrants but choose to collude and keep quiet either because they feel sorry for them, couldn’t be bothered, or it benefits them in someway or the other. My sympathies are actually with the illegal immigrants of Bangladesh — they have come here because we have encouraged it, most of them possibly don’t even understand the concept of nation stares or international boundaries. they are here working at subsistence level and it is still a better life than what they left behind. .I would rather go after the Indians who are encouraging this sort of behavior.
I have been reading reactions from across cyberspace, where all options from sealing borders to invading the neighbours, cutting off water supply were suggested. While I am all for increased security, I think that at best it is latching the stable door after the horse has bolted. I think that in addition to these there need to be steps taken that attack the root of the problem .Since it seems to be suggestion time on national security, my two bits:
a) Make corruption a treasonable act : illegal stuff – whether it is immigration or adulterated medicines or drug smuggling (more on that later) or human trafficking or arms trafficking – happens because someone, somewhere has taken money under the table, to turn a blind eye. Make the act of taking a bribe or receiving a bribe treasonable and implement it across the board. Be it politicians, administrators or law enforcement officers or people who are bribe givers. Fast track the investigations. Publicize the investigations and let the public know the verdict. Include the scope of treason to include terrorism. In today’s time, treason goes beyond colluding with a foreign state. It needs to include trans national movements that seek at destablising nation states.
b) Make Aiding and Abetting Terrorists a Treasonable offense. People aren’t transporting themselves across international and state borders to specific cities to plant bombs. There is an entire chain of people than help them for a) monetary consideration or b) sympathy.
c) Derecognise Political Parties that buck the system and try and legalise ‘illegal immigrants’ as vote banks. Bar them from politics at any level for a 5 year period. If it seems that the political party/ politician has done this in return for monetary consideration then refer to a) above
c) Legalise Drugs – Since the 1980′s the sale of illegal drugs has substantially paid for terror across the world. India is no different. I find it stupid that we spend crores of rupees chasing narcotics unsuccessfully to put high profit margins in the hands of the terrorists. The simplest way of cutting down on the money available to terrorists would be to legalise drugs, tax it and maybe use the money to fight terrorists.
d) Modernize the Penal Code and the Judicial system – it is 150 years behind time. Digitize the system. set up a central data bank of cases. Invest in intelligence, and infrastructure. The game has changed and the system has to be given the tools to fight a different kind of war.
e) Ensure that the PUCL evloves into an ACLU kind of organisation and doesn’t end up trampling on human rights
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Dec 192007
17 months & one week ago :
The trial begins …… I dont’ want to see a ritual sacrifice where the judiciary gives the public a sacrificial bali ka bakra……. I would like to see due process leading to justice being done. the victims deserve at least that…. And, we as citizens deserve at least that….
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Jul 142006
In the aftermath of the Mumbai Blasts there has been extensive coverage across all media. Most of it contradictory. Some of it ironical and reflecting the state of politics in India, where votes matter more than people
A day after the Uttar Pradesh police chief said raids were being conducted at hideouts of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) on suspicion of its links with the Mumbai blasts, the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party on Thursday virtually gave the outlawed group a clean chit, saying it was not a "terrorist organisation".
I wish that politicians of all hues and colours don’t have this terrrible need to open their mouth all the time. This is one of the things that we can learn from countries like the US and UK. In times of disaster or national calamity – their leaders present a unified front. Ours, gather like vultures near the dead. Today, while scanning through the news headlines my eye glanced this story:
Pakistan indicated that it was open to postponement of the Foreign Secretary-level talks, tentatively scheduled on July 20, in view of the ‘monstrous tragedy’ in Mumbai.
Well, I am not a hawk. I believe in peace and in dialogue and in negotiation, but I draw the line at this level of appeasement. And, for now – at a time like this – talks with a state like Pakistan is nothing short of appeasing terrorists and their masters. This time around India needs to put not just all talks on hold with Pakistan – atleast until that country is seen to do something tangible about the terror attacks in India, but also take some stringent action. Hit them where it hurts – not through arms but through economics and politics. I would really like to see the Government take some hard action. Stop all people to people contacts. Stop all trade. Stop all cultural exchanges. Stop all transportation to and from Pakistan. Stop all communication lines. Stop all sporting exchanges. Call on the extensive NRI population to do the same. Request friendly nations to do the same. Pakistan today needs to be treated the same way as South Africa was over 15 years ago. The world community is doing the people of Pakistan a disservice by continuing to talk to their Government. By behaving as though all is hunky dory with the way they behave. Economically, Politically, Culturally, and Socially isolate them, until the people of the country turn on their own state policies to change for the better. Every major urban terrorist attack that has emenated in India 15 years has clear Pakistani connections. So do 9/11 and 7/11. Yet, why is it that successive Governments across the world have problems taking a hard stance on Pakistan. Accept the fact that Pakistan is a terrorist state and deal with it accordingly. Hit them where it hurts. Sabre rattling in Kargil or Siachin is not the solution. A complete blockade might be. Finally, a little firm chat with Bangladesh to get its act in place may not be such a bad idea. I think that India needs to accept the fact that her neighbours are not really going to like her no matter what she does. They are going to envy us, they are going to be resentful of us. And nothing we say or do is going to change that. Our foreign policy should not be aimed at being liked but at being considered business like and no nonsense. Unfortunately successive Indian governments have looked at more how India is perceived by outsiders rather than what is good for country.
Technorati Tags: Mumbai Blasts, Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party, Pakistan, Pakistan is a terrorist state, Bangladesh
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Jul 122006
When the first set of Bombay Blasts happened back in 1993 – i was away in another land. Worried sick about my family and friends back home. Yesterday the second set of blasts rocked Mumbai. The crowds on the road were phenomenal. Human traffic trying to get home by the sheer dint of homing instinct. When I reached home, the buses were still running – every private vehicle, taxi and rick seemed to be on the road. The mobile network was jammed – but MTNL delivered. My brother reached home from VT well past mid night – and he told me stories about passersby being given water and food (once again) by ordinary citizens. Through news broadcasts, we saw ordinary citizens playing a key role in rescue operations. The only thing that ordinary citizens havent’ done so far is catch the terrorists and hand them over to the police. The police have been unbelievable. Out in full force since last Monday’s rains – they seemed to be a calming influence on citizens. Returning home at 7 – near andheri kurla road – we saw full contignets of police not just handling traffic, but people – with efficiency and compassion. 
a member of the Home Guard helping the Mumbai Police with traffic The police have been out full force since the rains last week. With sunday’s near miss riot and the response to yesterday’s blasts – they have done an incredible job. We all rail at them at perceived screw ups. Maybe, its time we tell them what a fantastic job they have done. This morning I look out of my building and the streets are buzzing with activity – people are getting into work. It is almost as though the city & its citizens are giving a collective middle finger to the terrorists. The message is very loud and clear – we are not going to be terrorized !
Technorati Tags: Bombay Blasts, blasts rocked Mumbai
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