A new day. Life goes on.
I have one bit of advice for the Government of India -- Get your priorities right. Do not spend thousands of crores on satellites that end up in the Bay of Bengal when innocent people are being slaughtered like animals due to a seriously deficient security and emergency-services infrastructure.
I read in the papers today that the Mumbai Police will soon be sending two of its officers to the US for a three-week course on post-blast investigation. What does that tell you?
As for this man, the less said the better. He gives journalism and journalists everywhere a very bad name.
***
One lakh. One lousy lakh is what the life of a Mumbai local-train commuter is worth. To think that's nearly the amount of money buggers like Rahul Mahajan used to spend on a days entertainment!
But who cares? You see the problem with the people of Mumbai is that they are quite content just to see things get back to normal. With great pride they will talk about how their spirit can never be broken and all that humbug. But I'd like to ask these people one question -- Is this the kind of normalcy you want? ... Where you know your life is as much at risk today as it was yesterday and that nothing is going to change only because you are happy with things being 'normal'? I certainly don't.
I tell you, people in the government must have heaved a sigh of relief on hearing that everything and (almost) everybody is up and running this morning. Our Mumbaikar's are such resilient sods, they must be saying. Nothing deters them. Life has returned to normal, and now we can too ... and the Rahul Mahajans can once again - have a blast!
I have one bit of advice for the Government of India -- Get your priorities right. Do not spend thousands of crores on satellites that end up in the Bay of Bengal when innocent people are being slaughtered like animals due to a seriously deficient security and emergency-services infrastructure.
I read in the papers today that the Mumbai Police will soon be sending two of its officers to the US for a three-week course on post-blast investigation. What does that tell you?
As for this man, the less said the better. He gives journalism and journalists everywhere a very bad name.
***
One lakh. One lousy lakh is what the life of a Mumbai local-train commuter is worth. To think that's nearly the amount of money buggers like Rahul Mahajan used to spend on a days entertainment!
But who cares? You see the problem with the people of Mumbai is that they are quite content just to see things get back to normal. With great pride they will talk about how their spirit can never be broken and all that humbug. But I'd like to ask these people one question -- Is this the kind of normalcy you want? ... Where you know your life is as much at risk today as it was yesterday and that nothing is going to change only because you are happy with things being 'normal'? I certainly don't.
I tell you, people in the government must have heaved a sigh of relief on hearing that everything and (almost) everybody is up and running this morning. Our Mumbaikar's are such resilient sods, they must be saying. Nothing deters them. Life has returned to normal, and now we can too ... and the Rahul Mahajans can once again - have a blast!
24 comments:
i havent been following the news in india closely so im a little curious to know what the journalist did?
Clint: Well, he displayed a crass insensivity to the disaster unfolding before us by reminding everybody of what a great job he was doing bringing us the news.
Below are some of the statements he made(taken from http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com):
"These pictures are now being beamed on all CNN networks all over the world. Indians all over the world watching CNN are now watching CNN-IBN. This is the power of CNN-IBN!".
Later he kept boasting: "CNN-IBN was the first to report these blasts."
Indians really amaze me...really...they can go on fasts and create such havoc for things like what Amir-khan said and other equally stupid things...they will vociferously complain about Rakhee sawant's lack of clothin and then for bigger things like yesterday's blasts they will keep quiet!!they are happy that things have come back to normalcy!
What made me think was there were attacks in Shrinagar too...that didn't get all that attention the mumbai blasts got...we are now so used to reading about attacks in J&K that it is nuthing new! today’s' TOI has "MUMBAI ATTACKED" in very huge fonts and "J&K Blasts claim eight" has a lower position and also smaller fonts...why???...guess Mumbai hasn't had that many blasts so the novelty.... if we continue our subservient behavior soon in the future Mumbai blasts will get a lower position with small fonts and 'news' like Maillka sherawat goes topless will be printed in Big bold letters...me wouldn't be surprised!
ah. not i get it... although i must say that ive seen it happen before where the presenter will blow his own channels trumpet. it happens when u have a lotta news channels competeing for "first at the scene" spot. and now its hit india
Politicians will never stop with the bloody act. Would they?
wonder where are all those muslims who came in millions protesting against Bush's visit? Wonder why they never come out once and show their solidarity to the nation?! It is much needed at this hour, sending a clear message that we stand united...
for once SwB i totally agree with you. and yeah, one lac. thats the price of a human life.
a friend of mine today went blah blah....the spirit of mumbai...blah blah..salaam mumbai..etc....and when i asked if she had ever travelled by train, she replied in the negative and that she has never ever travelled by public transport. so will she say the same things if someone close to her had lost his/her life yesterday; gone gloating about the "spirit of mumbai", which got back back on it's feet without so much as a blink?
i absolutely doubt it.
Pompy
It has become a norm, such things happen in Kashmir, Manipur, AP etc regularly but nobody bothers...people and Govt have become insensitive or conveniently numb abt the sufferings of people of these parts.
And where are the solutions?? Nobody, none of political leaders are giving any sort of permanent solutions for this!!
Its high time they settle the issue for once and all, enough of it now, high time to teach neighbors across the borders a lesson for life!
Seriously 1 lakh has become the price of human life and that too wud b after a series of identifications when u av no remains of people left. I dunno whats gonna happen to this city at this rate..just caught in the midst of lack poor security and emergency services infrastructure as u rightly put it. But i could see the spirit of Mumbai in people who had come out to help in large numbers selflessly...but mebbe it could be a small sample size in this vast population.
I echo your thoughts. Sometimes it's like the city lives in bubble. It's oxymoronic, as reality breathes in Bombay.
All the harping about the city's spirit and its resilience is fantastic - but how far does that go?
Its not about the spirit of Mumbai. Though thats there in plenty. I went to work like the other millions of Bombayites. but thats not because i wanted to tell the bastards who did this to sod off. It was because, i wanted to conquer MY fears. The minute one stays at home when somethng like this happens, you are giving in to fear - and you dont want to live life being scared everyday.
Its crazy shit. One lakh. And all the stories filtering in. Everyone knows people who were on the train, who died, who barely escaped, who got hurt. And one frigging lakh. Some who are chief wage earners the sole support of the family.
totally agree, in fact m post is also on similar lines...
Well said Blues! Well said!
Have emailed you the redirecting code. The commenting mechanism of blogger didn't allow me to post that code here!
The 'Spirit of Mumbai' has come down to being nothing more than an excuse for the fucking politicians to sweep the shit under the carpet, and for the tv hyenas to up their bloody trps.
I feel we Mumbaikars need to call a bandh for a change. Nothing but the emergency/esential services run. No office, no school, no transport, nothing. Mumbai stops, till the killers are found.
Coz though none of my family suffered, those who died and got injured did belong to a family we all belong to, Mumbai.
SWB: Some of us are really angry about it, but don't know what to do. A lot of us are *forced* to return to daily life because of economic compulsions.
All this hype about 'resilience' and the never-say-die spirit of Mumbaikars, is just that, hype.
People in Mumbai and all over India should hold rallies against the Government and the terrorists and seek better security measures from now on!
I would like to disagree here. It's the resilience that keeps this city going. They are not like a Calcutta or Kerala where burning buses would make the administration give them rice at Rs 2 per kilo (just a hypothetical example). Here the average guy knows that if he does not go to work no one is going to feed him least of the government. He has to provide for himself and his family even if it means getting on that same train because that's the only means of transport he can afford.
Mumbai must be commended that it rises inspite of it's unsympathetic government.
Secondly if you let fear overtake and stay at home then you are giving in to these madmen. This was the same sentiment echoed by people at the time of the London bombings.
That's my 2 cents
c.g.: What exactly are you disagreeing with? Nobody is saying Mumbai people are not resilient ... what we're saying is why is this resilience being tested time and time again?
I agree with what Doebereinerr says: This 'spirit of mumbai' stuff is just an excuse for everybody to sweep things under the carpet. You would not be talking about any damn spirit if one of your family was killed in those blasts.
As for not letting fear overtake us - why should there be fear in the first place? It is the governments duty to provide its citizens with security. What you're saying is something like this -- if a mother drops a baby and the baby suffers no injury, you should congratulate the baby for being so tough instead of admonishing the mother for being so clumsy!
Read this post by Cronicus Skepticus. She has put it very well.
http://greensaysgo.blogspot.com/2006/07/heartsick.html
@Arroclint/ SwB: The said journalist also harped on and on about 'citizen journalism' and how this was an opportunity for citizen to do their bit. This was a poorly concealed effort to get hold of some gory/ sensational pictures...sick, I must say.
@Pompey: I beg to disagree. My own husband travels on the train regularly and that too by the first class compartment. I was seriously shaken since he caught the train that was running just 5 minutes ahead of the one that blew up at Mahim. I was very against him taking the train to work the next day and begged him to drive or take a cab. But he refused because he felt that if the trains were empty, the terrorists would have won.
The cheapest thing atleast in India is it's citizens lives. Time and again we have been made aware of this, our lives are worthless.
As for Mumbai back on its feet overnight, it is not because we are happy with the fake normalcy, it is cause we know how to conquer our fear and its enough that we have a horde of politicians and bureacrats to mess up the country, we don't have to add to the misery.
I think it takes courage not to b afraid of these terrorist attacks since that is exactly what they want the general public to be... -to fear them and not live a normal life. Thats why hats off to Bombayites who give a darn about this, and in their very small way show these cowards that bombing is not the way they will get what they want.
Nice post. I'm linking to this on my latest post. Cheers!
The problems with this 'resilience' talk are that we have come to believe it and that we use it as a substitute for preventive or corrective action. The first is justified, the second is idiocy.
u right swb...its this spirit of mumbai that will be thier undoing someday coz the govt thinks that everything's okay and they get scot free...everytime!
bips
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