Indeed, Leopold Cafe in Mumbai has re-opened… unafraid, defiant, resilient.
Carlsberg and Coke, quenching the thirst… of the parched public, in a flame-scorched city.
Friends and family, silent for several days, are now back, circulating emails… speaking nothing of the terror and blood-bath in Mumbai during the past four days, but in grief and shock over the centuries-old tradition of bloodied whales… in distant Denmark.
The international public, has tales of bravado – “If London can put up with 20 years of the IRA, then Mumbai can damn well weather this!”
Well, until terror does not strike at a personal level causing tragedy and loss of life within the family, somehow, it seems that the people of the world, are getting more and more impervious to attacks of terror. Will this not embolden the terrorists even further? Man’s capability of hurting another, and the extent to which they can go, as depicted in movies with terrorists and their ingenious methods, makes me recoil, unfailingly! It seems that the normal rules do not apply when it comes to “terrorists”. Under “normal” circumstances, “resilience” is a virtue, but when terrorists strike, can we simply go around doing business, pretending that nothing happened? Life goes on?
I spoke to some people who live in the distant suburbs of Bombay but commute to South Bombay daily; after speaking to friends, safe-but-shaken-up, in South Bombay, I just needed to confirm that they too were safe… their cheerful response was, “Oh, we’re doing great; whatever happened, it all happened in South Bombay.” Although pleased about their safety, I was shocked to hear their non-agitated, callous, nonchalant response. Within the same city, is this the way people now respond… seemingly unaffected by terrifying events that occurred just 20-30 miles away from them? It seems, each man, woman, child is only for oneself. Terrorists may strike again, and again and again… but in a city of 15,000,000 people, if 150-180 people die in their attack, should it make a difference to the rest of the city, to the nation, to the government, or to the world for that matter? Does anything matter? We’re all dead anyway!
Oh, and by the way, this piece contains nothing obscene, perverse, humorous, idiotic, spam or scam worthy; it has nothing overtly shocking, neither does it evoke sympathy nor will it make you a millionaire… do I see it being forwarded? Will it return to me some point, full circle, in my mail box, as a widely-circulated “forward”?
Words-n-Motion 