Day 198-2011 : Bomb Blasts! Hmmm...OK.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

It was around 7.15 in the evening.  I was at work, in the closing stages of a hour long conference call.  I receive a  message on my Office Communicator from a colleague, which says..'3 bomb blasts in Mumbai'.  I respond, 'OK'.  

The conference call gets over.  My immediate response is to try and 'google' what is happening out there.  However, I am in a series of back-to-back meetings with my staff and people overseas for the next one hour and hence cannot find out more.  In the next 30 minutes, while I am in the midst of a staff meeting, I receive 4-5 text messages (not phone calls...!) on my phone enquiring if I was safe.  I also see a missed call from Mom.  During the next conference call with people overseas, my multi-tasking self  casually 'googles' the web for news on the blast. 3 bomb blasts in Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri Bazaar; 17 injured, I read.  I think, 'Looks like a small blast'.  I also try to watch the reactions of my colleagues from glass wall of my cabin.  There seems to be flutter on the floor and people look a bit nervous.  A couple of them are worried about their near and dear ones, as they were supposed to be in the vicinity of the areas where the bomb blasts have occurred.  After a few minutes, everyone looks normal and is back to work.

The series of meetings and conference calls finally gets over.  I answer a few curious questions about the blasts from my overseas colleagues and assure them that all is well.  News travels fast these days.  I simply refresh the the 'Google Search Results' page.  It now tells me: '....8 dead, 70 injured.'  I call Priya and find out that she knows nothing about what is happening in the outside world, being with the kids at home.  I ask her to switch on the news channels and keep me informed of all that she gets to know.  I call back my Mom and assure her of my safety.  I am still not done for the day, so I continue working for sometime in the office, which includes impromptu discussions with my team and some of my peers about the blasts.  It has in the meantime also been determined that all staff in my team are safe.  Those who were supposed to be travelling to work are already in the office premises, those who had left for their homes a few hours ago, had safely reached their homes.  I try to tell one of my peers that we should be worrying about staffing for the next day.  My apprehensions are brushed off, 'Kuch nahi hoga...jo hona tha aaj ho gaya.  Kal sab normal hoga!'  I hear that the office transport has started plying the buses and the cars again after temporarily stopping it for an hour or so, 'as there were no more news of any more blasts in the city.'  I pack up for the day and walk down to the parking lot.  On my way, I call a couple of relatives in Mumbai to find out if they are safe.  They are.  One of my cousins reports hearing the sound of the Dadar blast, while on her way to the temple.  

I reach home to find Priya watching her favorite soap.  She informs me that she switched to the soap only a few moments back as she was getting bored of the same news and video clips being broadcast by the news channels repeatedly, in loop.  I switch on the news channels while having food.  '15 killed; 102 injured', the newsflash announces.  The news reporters are shown urging eye witnesses to narrate what happened, some have even recorded videos of gruesome scenes just moments after the blasts.  The scavenging reporters take great delight in being able to show these 'exclusive' clips.  I get fed up, get a sick feeling, put off the television and go to bed. 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I get the newspapers and am staring at a bold 'AGAIN' on the front page.  The next few pages are all describing the details of the blasts.  I do not have the patience nor the inclination to read the reams of pages describing the blasts from everyone's perspective; the Mumbai Commissioner of Police to the beggar on the street.  I call office to check if everyone's reported to work.  Everyone has.  I get ready for work and on my way, see that traffic was as normal as it is on other days.  I am told there would be extra vigilance and security measures on the roads and at my work premises.  I find no difference.  The security guard at the main gate, as  usual, checks for a bomb in my car's boot (as if that is the only place where one could hide it..!) and lets me go.  I reach my desk and see everything is business as usual.  

Do you feel angry and frustrated reading the sequence of events above?  As is evident from the narration above, most Mumbaikars don't.  Apart from the people who are directly impacted by the explosions, nobody else seems to be feeling the pain and no one seems to care.  Is there a sense of vulnerability in the people of the city due to the repeated strikes by terrorists over the last few years?  The answer is, no. It seems to me that fatalism has taken over.  

Is this the famous 'resilience' of the city at play?  The answer is again, no. This is   how 'numbed minds' react.  Numbed by the audacity of the extremists at being able to strike almost at will, in the choicest of places.  Numbed by the continuing inaction and a lack of will, from the polity leading to such strikes.  Numbed by the sheer helplessness and lack of preparation of a police force, paralyzed by corruption and procrastination.  Numbed by the senseless exploitation of such incidents by the media.

The hundreds of crores invested in intelligence and equipment is obviously of no use.  Perhaps, this is the most effective way to prevent these terrorists from doing mindless acts of terror like this.  The terrorist might just decide that there is no point orchestrating such acts, as the common man seems to be numbingly indifferent to it.  

Take care.