A million steps of bruised steel

I'm late in blogging anything about mumbai blasts. Yet, it shakes one's insides to be a part of most cosmopolitan city of india and watching gory scenes on your Television. and still.. there is nothing you can do except just sympathesize.. or is it?

As soon as the news of blasts reached everyone, the cellphone networks were jammed. if you had access to net, fine.. at least you could inform your loved ones that you are safe. But it was a different thing altogether, to observe and live the journey back home. Fully-packed buses, people walking towards homes in middle of rains, bunches of people trying to get hold of any mode of transport - i saw many trucks full of people standing on their backs. The air seemed different, i don't know whether i was afraid or not, but perhaps i was watching mumbai with a different perspective altogether.

After few moments, it seemed everyone around had forgotten what had happenned. Mumbai roads and traffic were already in tatters after few showers of monsoons and it was no different yesterday, with the situation more worse than ever with everybody switching to road transports. Stranded in traffic jams, i just observed those around me. Sitting in a company bus, knowing that you are safe now but observing the common people outside, i understood everybody knew that something terrible has happenned to the city. We were not running for our lives. We were not afraid. But it wasn't alright.

When i boarded down from the bus, i went to the temple and wished for everyone's safety. i thanked god for taking care of me and then i saw urchins playing in front of temple. Playing and laughing, they didn't care what had happenned to mumbai. i looked towards the highway, towards the traffic jam and then i looked towards the urchins, towards the temple and idol of Sai Baba and walked towards my home.

By now, All of us have watched these heart wrentching scenes of flesh and blood spilled everywhere and have discussed it with our friends, our family. Few posts by Amit and Gaurav have been really touching and really the efforts of Mumbai Help are praise worthy. But i perhaps want to understand that what is it that will change inside us when we observe such incidents. Will we change, will we stand up and give the perpetrators of terror a bloody blow on their faces. Or, perhaps we would just look towards the gods, thank them for keeping ourselves and our relatives safe, condolesce with the dead and their relatives, and move on with Life.

I don't know the clearcut answer. We don't know who did this. We don't know what purpose they would achieve by doing this. But i know that mumbai can't stop. It just can't. All local trains were operational by 10.30 p.m. yesterday night and all offices and schools are open today. The city was bruised, injured and batterred but it won't give up.

Today morning, when i came to office, there were no traffic jams. Perhaps, many people were staying in their homes and spending time with their family and loved ones instead of coming to offices. But i know that terrorists can't win. They would never. I know that again there will be traffic jams and the roads will be crowded and the city would move on, without caring two pence for anything or anyone in this world. That's the indomitable spirit of Mumbai.