Pratyush – a helpless Indian

Switch to any News Channel these days and you will find them talking about the “War against terror”. Yesterday, almost all of them were talking about the possible mastermind of the recent blasts in Delhi and Ahmedabad. This guy, named Taquir has been branded as India’s Osama Bin Laden. He is the latest face of terror in the country.

 

I don’t know if he is behind the killing of so many innocent lives. In all probability, he is! But knowing that doesn’t help. He’s still free. And even if we mange to catch him, we will have many people and organisations (including some political parties) who would stand behind him, citing various reasons like human rights, minority issues, alienation of a section of the society and dozens of other reasons.

 

We still have not decided what to do with the man who attacked our parliament – because few of the human rights people think its inhuman to hang somebody, few politicians think hanging him would mean further polarization of Muslims, some leaders think this would result in Kashmiris revolting against the system.

 

The other day, I read a statement by a senior Muslim clerk who claimed that the Muslims fundamentalists are not behind these attacks and its a work of “Mossad” and we should stop blaming SIMI for this.

 

When I read or hear these people talking and giving all possibles excuses so that they can get the best out of the present situation, I feel helpless. After all, these are the people who are supposed to be representing us in their different fields like politics, strategy, religion etc.

 

The politician represent my political views because I’ve made him a Minister, a human right activist represents me against the social injustice, and the so called religious experts represent my religious beliefs.

 

But how can I win my war against such inhuman acts when people representing me are more concerned about their own or group’s interests. How do i win my battle against terrorism if it has no face. How can I win a war when I don’t even know who my enemy is?

 

Whom do I fight against? When I close my eyes and think about it, I get many answers. Do i fight against the Muslim fundamentalists who believe its their moral duty to fight a jihad against all other religions (beyond countries) and are being guided by their imams who select the worst part of the holy Koran to brainwash them?

 

Or do i fight against the Sangh pariwar or the Bajrang Dal who think they are the only well wishers of Hindus and that gives them the right to attack the Church?

 

Or do i fight against the self proclaimed leaders who come on National TV to make statement like I’m not an Indian but a Kashmiri?

 

Or can i shoot the politician who says strong anti terror laws would result in polarization of a particular section of the society and hence we cannot have strict laws to save thousands of innocent lives.

 

Since 9/11 (where apparently the Muslim fundamentalists declared jihad against the “West”), my country has recorded the maximum number of deaths due to terror attacks. There has been no major attack in USA after 9/11 (and they are the prime target). Maybe because they all stood up together and had the audacity to crush everything that came in between them and their National pride (I’m not saying what they did was correct – but we all know that they are not impotent and wouldn’t let anyone dictate terms and hurt their national pride).

 

We cannot have strict laws, cannot hang the terrorists, cannot questions the fundamentalists, cannot stand up together against the faceless enemy who has a single point agenda of taking away my fundamental right to live my life peacefully in my own country.

 

Today, I feel like a helpless, impotent Indian because I know there are few people who want to hurt my country, my fundamental beliefs and the very foundation of my existence, but I cannot do anything.

 

I wish I could start by shooting the politicians, the so called activists and the fundamentalist preachers of different religions, before shooting those fanatics who have been given a free hand to shake the very foundation of my country.

Pratyush

 

No News is just a “News” anymore

 

It was like any other evening. My life was good – a good interesting job at a leading Automobile company in the country and a rocking personal life. I had just finished a meeting with top management on our media strategy for a forthcoming launch.

 

I was generally among the last people to leave late (sounds funny but 7 pm was considered late in my company then). I was the youngest in the office with all the senior guys around me in the HO.

 

I had Sanath (Brand Manager, Indigo) sitting next to me, Gautam (Product Manager, FIAT) and Aneesh (Product Manager, UV) behind me. We had a great team there with everyone supporting each other. It might sound strange in today’s competitive environment, but we were a close knit group.

 

On that faithful day, I remember my Senior VP and GM leaving at around 5:30. Gautam, Aneesh and I use to leave at around 7 everyday. At around 6:30, I finished my work and shut down my laptop. When I looked back, I saw Gautam packing up too with Mr. Sanjay Gupta.

 

We were about to get into the lift to get down from our 26^th floor office when i got a call from my girlfriend. I was going to meet her in some time anyways. When I took the call, the first thing she asked was about my whereabouts. And then she told me there has been a blast in a local train. I told her to reach home as she stayed in town itself and I’ll see her there in some time. Gautam and Sanjay were about to get into the lift when I gave them the news. We all went inside and started calling people to confirm the news. Gautam logged in on a news channel website and confirmed the news (infact it showed 3 blasts by then).

 

The first thing that we all did was to call our family to confirm that we all were safe. By that time, all the phone lines in Mumbai were jammed. The only information we were getting was from the internet. By 7 pm, people were talking about 7-8 blasts and many causalities.

 

And suddenly, I heard Sanjay’s voice – “Where is Aneesh?” And it was then that we realised Aneesh was not in office. We all looked at gautam as both of them generally left together. Gautam told us that Aneesh that day had left early as he had something at home. And with a blank look he told us that he’s left around 6:15pm.

 

We tried his number immediately but it went on his voicemail. Even his wife called on Gautam’s landline to enquire. He didn’t know what to say. we kept calling him till 9pm but couldn’t get through.

 

Till that time, our senior management also got involved. Everyone in the office had been traced except Aneesh. Our senior management was trying every bit to find out about him. We had no choice but to leave. Gautam and Sanjay decided to stay in Taj which was right next to our office at Cuffe parade (going home was not a good idea as roads were jammed and our company had booked rooms for all of us at Taj. But I decided to go and stay with my girlfriend. She was already home and was waiting for me. I reached there at around 9:30pm. I was in constant touch with others and we were told that they were trying to find out about Aneesh.

 

At around midnight, Gautam called me. He didn’t say anything but he was choking. I knew what was coming. And the only thing I could remember was Aneesh’s ever smiling face. It was hard to believe that I’ll never be able to see that face again. My girlfriend was trying her best to cheer me up but I couldn’t sleep the whole night.

 

Next day, we went to the hospital to claim the body. I will never be able to describe what I saw at the hospital. I had never seen so many sad or crying faces in my life. I had seen such things on TV before but this was the first time that I was there in between all that.

 

I will never forget what I saw at the hospital. Neither will I forget Aneesh’s ever smiling face. That day when I reached home and turned on the TV, every channel was showing the same news. As mentioned, we in India aren’t new to such news. We see them very often on TV. But the whole thing had a new meaning to me this time. I could feel it.

 

I could so easily have been in one of those ill fated trains. It was my luck that I was meeting my girlfriend that day at Jazz. But I’ll never be able to get over the fact that Aneesh left early that day. Maybe, the only time in a year that he had left so early.

 

I don’t know what those people (who were behind the blasts) got from the blasts. Maybe, they just wanted to prove something. Maybe, they had a point. I don’t know if the blasts helped them prove a point. All I know is I’ll never be able to see Aneesh’s smiling face ever. That around 200 people died and more then 1000 were injured. And I know that it changed the lives of many people.

 

From that day onwards, no news is a news to me. For me, its a reality. Something which has happened and I was lucky that I’m not “the news”.

 

Pratyush