November 26th, 2008

Written on the 1st of December, 2008

San Diego Harbor mesmerized us. We were deprived of this in Houston. All of us in our own world, pondering life as it came. Until that phone call. Taj and Oberoi under seige, ATS chief Karkare dead. Terrorists in control over south Bombay. 900 TCS employees warned not to get out. Hostage situation on the rise, point and shoot not a misnomer anymore. This was all the updates we got, sneaking in updates from CNN about the situation in Bombay. Every chance we got, we heard something new, and then we were disgusted.

Frantic phone calls were made. Non bombaites in India had no clue to the unfolding events in Bombay. I called up my dad, only to awake him from his good night slumber and inform him about the situation. His first reaction- Don't worry its nothing. When I filled him up with details, he realized we had friends in that area and decided to check up on then. He called me back, thank whoever, nothing had happened to them. All our friends and family had been contacted.

We were back in downtown San Diego.

And then it was the usual. Analyze. Analyze what happened, what could have been done to prevent it, what should have been done even if there were obstacles, the usual wouldas-couldas-shouldas! Who was at fault, who claimed responsibility? Did the Indian Intelligence have prior information? Whose fault was it? How many people dead? Why isn't NDTV updating their website? Are you seriously telling me that this is headline/frontpage news on CNN, NYTimes? What is going on? Can someone let us know please? Damn the government!

Oh oops, did I just say government? That thing that is meant to protect us, that thing that we as citizens (those who vote (willingly to add onto that)) elect to power. We transcend into that word the minute we run out of options to blame someone. In this case, lets just blame...I give up. I don't know whom to blame cause we have so many of them in question. It took 9 hours for the commandos to arrive. Are you KIDDING me? 3 full days of sustained encounter. We did zilch. We sent in local policemen with pistols as reinforcements, when the opponent had AK-47s. Plain brilliant. We decide what to do after we get there, not while we are getting there. What happens in situations like these, does anyone think through or does everyone just go with instinct?

Do we have the right to analyze this sitting all the way here in the US? Is it just because it’s easy to blame it on human instinct that we analyze? We talk about things being bad back home, and we do this while we enjoy fruits here. The government should learn something from its foreign counterparts. Aren't we escaping from something? What it is I don't know either, but it seems like we'd much rather be here than there, at least for the moment. Think about it. We worry, we panic, we can't do a thing. We go back to doing what we are supposed to do, considering that's what we planned on when we took that flight to the US.

It's the same thing back home, you tell me. Sure it is. Which makes the situation all the more repulsive. I remember I got into a huge argument with my father and his friend about how cowardly a portrayal we drew, when all we did was sit at home and analyzed a wrong doing. A friend once told me, if you don't vote, you don't have a voice. I couldn't agree more. I know a lot of people in India, who inspite of being able to vote, have not voted. Lazy, irresponsible, self-centered citizens. Sorry, but its true. Its easy to analyze at home and think about the do's and don't's, its apparently very difficult to get yourself to the polling station.

We can sit down and analyze all we want. 5 terrorists (reportedly) still loom large in Bombay. Terrorizing the city as they breathe. What happened in Bombay was sheer pathetic. India's 9/11 they call. A black mark on what mankind believes. And yes the government failed once again. It failed to do what it vouches for- protect its citizens. It failed to get help as soon as possible. It failed at the nick of time, because it was too busy playing politics. It turned down Israel's crackdown team. It turned down help- what was it protecting? The non-existant ego? Not everything is IT. India shining is long gone. IT won't save us from what happened on that night of 26th November 2008. Nuclear deals won't save us from that either. Blaming everyone except your own work won't as well. When time came to act, everyone resigned. Resigned cause that was the easiest thing to do. Get someone new to handle and blame. Of course, the previous leaders go back to doing what they do best- NOTHING.

But Mr. Deshmukh did make sure to visit Ram Gopal Verma for a possible movie. I love Bollywood.

Not one straight story as to what happened that night. Not one. All sporadic information.

San Diego, in all its beauty, was somber, until we let that fade away.