Friday, November 28, 2008

The sinking ship

'The dastardly terror attacks that took place in Mumbai last night and today leading to the loss of many precious lives and injuries to many others have deeply shocked the nation. I strongly condemn these acts of senseless violence against innocent people, including guests from foreign countries.'- Manmohan Singh

What would a bureaucrat say that hasn't been already said. Mumbai, the Greatest Indian city has been a mute witness to previous attacks. Mumbaikars have always found courage and pride post a terror attack to get back on their feet and steady themselves. The Phoenix has always risen from the ashes. This latest attack, however is quite different for a number of reasons per Se.


This time, the Corporate face of India has been hit badly. The Taj Hotel, a century old in fires. When would one have pictured such a situation. This is a direct hit on a Country whose face value is often synonymous with growth, power and urban development. One with many phases and faces. One with dreams. One with an unimaginable urban rural divide. One where realities hit hard.


Over 150 dead. Mr Patil seemed so indifferent again. He's more concerned about his frigging looks. One expects a leader to show emotions. Yet his voice was so monotonous, lacking urgency. Money was promised again. A poor little taxi driver lost 7 of his family members. What kind of hope would keep him going? What will he do with the money. It will never get his kin back. He will never get rid of the guilt, even though he's guilty of nothing. Blame he will take for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Justice is such an ambiguous term. It surely won't be delivered soon. There is no political will to say that this wouldn't happen again. The bureaucrats would be thinking- 'aaj ki maal nahi mili'. The political forces unified just in front of the camera.

Common man cannot even vent his anger. If one makes derogatory comments, he is quickly apprehended. This blogging portal isn't safe either. The Mumbaikar couldn't even watch t.v as it was blank. No source of information on the attacks. The fear and the anger all magnified by frightening proportions. Must we get used to this Orwellian environment, with Big Brother watching us, rather than the damn militants? They came, they saw and fired. And our intelligence was sitting on its backside and sipping ice candy!!! We better get used to this soon.
But in all this chaos, i see hope. Hope for "change" (as Obama puts it). The vital ingredients for such a change being, next time, a few vvips lying in a pool of blood. This collage of images will be etched on my mind forever. Hope, my friend, is a dicey emotion! Jai Hind!

P:S- A ship with many innocents is sinking fast. An s.o.s call was sounded ages ago. Will we respond? Perhaps one of the innocents is a protege of a bureaucrat.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Up the irons!!!

It was 18:43 Indian standard time( I remember this clearly because i glanced at my watch). After my usual quota of mail checking and googling nonsense, i visited the Iron Maiden website,partly because i was pretty bored (I was humming an maiden tune so this could be why). Then out of the blue, i see this icon that says that they're going to embark on a return leg of their very successful world tour. My heart skips a beat (maybe even 3:P). I scroll down to read further and then i see 'Bangalore' clearly highlighted.

What can i say. This was probably my most pleasing and gleeful moment of the whole year.Easily. I fumble with my phone, can't wait to call up my maiden buddies and break them the "news". For obvious reasons, I'm restless. My body is trembling. An exuberant shudder flows through my spine!!! Hell this is huge.

As i look back and ponder my reactions, i realise why i felt that way. Simply put- Maiden writes about things that matter. War and Religion, hope and solace, Death and destruction. These are matters of colossal interest to me. We're all looking for answers to life's testing questions.
What Maiden really does, is provide a vent where they, along with their zillions of fans, unite for a common cause. One where we're encouraged to step out of our safety zones, one where we should follow our hearts. If it's metal, then it has to be Iron Maiden.
Bruce always puts a lot of emotions into his voice. He has what one would call "ownage".When the air raid siren is going to say- scream for me BANGALORE!!(at high octaves:d), he knows what's coming onto him- A humdinger of a time. 15 Feb 2009, I'm already counting the days.See you fellow maiden-heads there.
P:S- Isn't it ironic how our parents would say they're noise, but we consider them to be Gods!!