Dear all,
The spirit of Mumbai was captured beautifully by this mail forwarded by a colleague Vikram Duggal on HR e-group..
>>
>> Today's Mid-Day edit begins by saying that you don't need to be a rocket
>> scientist to understand that the chain of events starting from the
>> Bhiwandi riots to the desecration of Meenatai's statue and what happened
>> as an aftermath, to the serial blasts on the trains yesterday, means
>> somebody somewhere wants Mumbaikar's to spill out on the streets and
>> grab each other by the throats.
>>
>> Incidentally, these same somebody-- the faceless outcasts that they
>> still are-- have at least succeeded in one part of their plan.
>> Mumbaikars have actually spilled out on to the streets.
>>
>> The catch here is that they have failed to succeed in the second and
>> most important part of their plan: that of getting Mumbaikars to grab
>> each other by the throats. Mumbaikars spilled onto the streets-- in a
>> collective show of the middle finger to those who proposed otherwise.
>>
>> I know very well that you are already aware of how Mumbai stormed onto
>> the streets to help the injured, the stranded and soothe the injuries
>> that were still gaping along its life line.
>>
>> There were capsules and capsules of streaming video that showed them
>> offering water and refreshments to people stranded on SV Road and the
>> Eastern and Western Express Highways.
>>
>> There were captures of students of Sydenham and SNDT college, who camped
>> at Churchgate station with the sole purpose of offering a bed to those
>> stranded at the starting node of the life line.
>>
>> And there was also that memorable grab of people standing patiently in
>> front of KEM Hospital-- all in a serpentine queue, to donate blood. A
>> result of which has been a no-shortage syndrome, when it comes to blood
>> at all the hospitals where the injured are being treated or are
>> recuperating.
>>
>> But this is not about all that. And yet, it is about all that and more.
>> It is about the sights I saw and the people I met with, while travelling
>> along the Western Express Highway to Kandivali yesterday, between 7 in
>> the evening and one in the morning.
>>
>> It is about that little kid and his grandfather near Dadar, who, perhaps
>> in the absence of anybody else in the household, took to the streets
>> with bottles of water and packets of biscuits to contribute in whatever
>> way possible in managing the crisis. "Uncle, you must be thirsty," the
>> kid told me while offering the bottle. A parched me drank gratefully.
>> And I saw in those eyes no fear. So what did those terrorists think
>> while planting the bomb? That was at least the silent way of making one
>> statement-- "Terror, my foot.!"
>>
>> It is also about those housewives in front of a housing society near
>> Santa Cruz, who were standing with pots of piping tea, water and God
>> only knows what else to help those passing by. And they had this board
>> beside them which read "Beyond Borivli, Can Stay'. I was lucky to get a
>> cab, but there were people who were trying to make it on foot. And they
>> needed succor. Rest. Shelter. It was raining.
>>
>> It is about the autorickshaw driver, who finally reached me home in the
>> interiors of Kandivali at 1 in the morning. And refused to take the
>> night fare, despite being legally empowered to charge extra. "Nehi saab,
>> aaj ki baat alag hai. Aap thik thak ghar pohuj gaye, yeh hi kafi hai,"
>> he bade me goodbye at my doorstep.
>>
>> It is also about the dabbawala who provides me with my dinner everyday.
>> His shop is near the Borivli station, where there was one of the biggest
>> blasts at 6:34 in the evening. Yet, at one o clock in the morning, the
>> dabba was there waiting at my doorstp to be picked up. It didn't need a
>> note. The piping hot food at such an unearthly hour said it all.
>>
>> The terrorists succeeded in synchronising a series of blasts that
>> stopped the Mumbai lifeline for somewhere around seven hours. That was
>> all that they achieved on 7/11. The trains were back on track by 1:30 in
>> the morning and they plied all through the night. I wonder if the
>> masterminds will consider this before planning their next attack. I
>> would urge them to-- if this reaches any one of them-- to rethink. After
>> all, what did a year of planning, six months of smuggling dangerous
>> explosives, extensive netwroking and crores achieve at the end-- arond
>> 200 lives and just seven hours of disruption? Bus! I won't budge for
>> that. In the deal they united more than they dreamt to rip apart.
>>
>> And by the way, I did not spot any member of the celebrated Readers'
>> Digest survey team yesterday on the roads. Or perhaps they were there--
>> reconsidering their statement.
>>
>> I request whoever receives this, to forward it to as many people as
>> possible. At least that way, we will build an opinion against these
>> faceless faces of terror
>>
>> --
>> Sudip Ghosh
>> Deputy Editor
>> Medianet
>> Times of India, Mumbai
Though no one can go back and make a brand new START
Anyone can start from now and make a brand new END
Vikramaditya Duggal
Faculty
State Bank Staff College
Hyderabad
098485 97318
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