A WORLD OF RECONCILIATIONS

When I am angry, disgruntled and struggling to make a point and “a restrictive word count, speech time or listening capacities” snub my views, I feel my efforts to opine are all worthless. As a journalist, I sense the tremendous responsibility I hold when a shocker hits headlines, all eyes turn to you…all of a sudden people begin to make sense of the news you supply, which otherwise they’d simply prefer to pay no heed to.
November 26, 2008 is one such day, well-etched in my memory. It was a chaotic, unpalatable and hurtful night of misfortunes. Three top cops martyred, over 175 butchered by “frozen in the head lunatics,” failure of intelligence, commandos battling to calm a city that was suddenly suffering from dysfunctional normality and unwanted political drama. All this in three nights…yes, it probably appears to be a script from some Hollywood ‘A’ rated action movie….but you’re sadly mistaken. This is reality; this is the “great Indian dream”, a nightmare that keeps interrupting our peaceful life…for which solutions cannot be found through hypnosis. “Relive this painful dream and thank your stars if you come out alive,” is all we get in reconciliation. “Ah!! I am safe, nothing happened to me this time,” we sigh, when terror strikes. Is that all that is left of us…are we just waiting to be slaughtered by a bunch of lunatics…who in the name of religion, keep crushing us time and again. “Oh!” we again sigh, “thank God, its not one of us…they were not Hindus, not Christians,” so another reconciliation. Good, our religious hypocrisy always gets the better of us.
Politicos also indulge in similar mud-slinging. The opposition pin points failure of the government, the ruling party tries to be apathetic and speaks about compensations to families and there is some bantering, blame game and wasteful media coverage (word space and air time) offered in platter to them. So, while our commandos struggle to secure hostages and nab terrorists holed up in the locales, our politician fly down from their well-protected hubs to grab some media attention and speak about all they should not. So, attention is diverted, the police tries to bodyguard our dear friends who we once voted for, instead of securing the terror stricken place. Though, I must admit, the one anti-north ridden politician made me proud this time… he refused to come out of his haven, he did not ramble…however there were smses being passed…only goes to show how much we missed him during this time of crisis. Where was he? Probably his attention seeking tactics slipped when he saw Indian soldiers battling through thick and thin…on land he claimed owned by the marathi manoos…I have a strong feeling that he is ashamed. But, well…it is just a feeling. Some people never choose to learn. But if his silence has worked in our stride…then I am glad.
So, now, as I wish to write no more and feel exhausted, dispirited and cheated by the “spirit of Mumbai” jingle, that keeps jingling from foolish mouths…this angry self, says adieu, we need to get back to work, I have another day to look forward to, another news report to cover and may be some better news to bring to you. Uh!!! Is this is another reconciliation? Probably, yes.