With a word of curiosity 

And a manner of mysticism

You will bring a breath of fresh air

Wherever you go

 

With a feeling of warmth,

And a smiling face,

You will bring life,

To the bereaved tired souls

 

Like a little dove

Who determined to bring peace,

Flies with its white-wide wings

Despite the red blood stains.

The Mumbai terror attacks have jolted the world. It has shocked us. If I had a better vocabulary I would use some more words to describe the tragedy. But I don’t and I think I made my point.

It was not that there have been no terrorist attacks before. But the fact is, this tragedy has made us realize that the continued terrorism is very real and its presence is not merely confined to our TV screens.

The world is looking for a response and the only plausible action is to wipe out the roots of this disease called terrorism that seems determined to wipe out the human race.

There are no clear solutions, as an average Indian, I want justice. I want the perpetrators to be punished. But what should this punishment entail??? A war? A peaceful march? I don’t know. I am a peaceful citizen and I would like peace at all costs. But would that mean there would be no future terrorist attacks.

Will diplomacy prove to be useful in rendering justice? Should justice be negotiated? I am not an expert. I am hoping that diplomats doing the rounds of world will ensure that justice is served to the rightful.

Will strengthening our borders, having a tighter security will deter the terrorists? Will it weaken their resolve to kill innocent people? I hope so.

Will God punish the terrorists or provide justice? I wish so. For all I know, the word God has already been maligned so much that I am fearful of invoking his presence to bring justice on this earth.

Will peaceful marches and rallies ensure a better world?  I would urge for peace and look for peaceful, non-violent solutions to the tragedy that has struck our home. But I certainly don’t believe in a mute peace process.

The truth is, as an average citizen of India and this world. I want answers, I want solutions, I want actions to emerge. I wish this would happen sooner than later before terrorism takes over our world. I am an advocate of peace and peaceful solutions. I am ready to do my bit to promote peace.

But I want peace that is relevant in today’s world. I don’t want peace that pacifies relevant voices and actions. I want peace that stands up to atrocities and terror.

My question remains: How do we make peace relevant? If Gandhi could make peace and non-violence relevant 50 years ago, I am sure we can do it now. It’s just that we haven’t tried enough.

I have been glued to the internet watching the mumbai attacks since yesterday. I learned about it around 1 pm US eastern time from a friend on yahoo messenger. She was outraged. I opened the NDTV live and watched in shock the burning TAJ. For about an hour, I just sat watching transfixed. I couldn’t believe, how could such an event happen in the middle of a busy city like Mumbai.

My first reaction, to know how my family and friends were. Some of my family stays very closeby to where the incident was taking place. I prayed and gathered enough courage to call them. Thankfully they are all fine.

I was hoping that it will all be over soon. But the night turned into day and day turned into night again and the terror still continues. Sitting in my room watching the live coverage of attack and reading live updates on twitter, I feel helpless. My thoughts turning into my head, and several questions emerging..why and how could something like this happen and the world watches. We are just watching and reading and listening while the terrorists are taking innocent lives…..we can speculate and we can reason….but when will this end…when 9/11 happened, we thought this was the big thing, and now we must get ready to fight terror, since then we had the Iraq war but the terrorist attacks continued – we saw the bombings in London, Delhi, and elsewhere and now Mumbai terror attacks…what are we going to do – prepare to fight another one like this….

We are getting reports from all over internet – from news media through live TV, from social media through twitter, first hand accounts from bloggers, we are so well-connected as the world, technology has brought us together like never before. I read anger, angst, pain all kinds of emotions from viewers from all over the world. The world watches in horror about what is happening in Mumbai, and tomorrow it can happen anywhere..we are connected but we are not safe. Somewhere we have gone wrong, somewhere we have failed…till yesterday, it was hijackings which made news and we were horrified with such incidents and today we are hit at right in the middle of a city, where we would think we are safest….

My thoughts and prayers are with all those who are dead or injured, who have lost their loved ones…or are awaiting them…may God (if there is one) create a miracle for everyone involved. May this event makes the world work towards peaceful solutions…