Dogs of War
It’s been quite some time since we came up with an article, thanks to various reasons that kept the three of us occupied. Komodo and Antagonist still busy with their work, I thought I’d take this opportunity to update the blog.
Last week was quite eventful. The Mumbai blasts being the most talked about of all the incidents and that’s justified too. Everyone in this world did expect this to happen someday, probably more because of the fact that Mumbai has got everything going for it and any such incident would create a huge impact on each and every individual.
It was disappointing to see the pictures of bodies lying all over the place and train compartments ripped apart…. the same trains I traveled in for almost a decade. I still remember cursing the trains and all the pushing and pulling I had to go through on any given day in Mumbai. But later when I shifted base, I realized the attachment I had developed to such a life style and it might sound a little weird but I actually started missing it.
Anyways, back to the blasts. The news channels never wasted a minute to capture as much as they could and come up with their own versions of the story. There has always been this talk about the resilience of Mumbai, which I till date feel is a bit too hyped. And 7/11 was no different. Even before the bodies were cleared and victims were admitted to hospitals, the media had started debates and discussions on the ‘resilience of Mumbai’ and the participants??? Don’t ask.
I still fail to understand what’s the agenda behind such discussions. Firstly why was that topic brought up? What are we trying to convey to the people responsible for the blasts? Are we trying to invite them to ‘You kill my neighbor, I go to work tomorrow’ game? And what’s with someone blaming Pakistan for the terrorist camps established there? Terrorist camps are there all over the place and blaming just one country for it is no solution. Let us first look into our back yard before putting the blame on someone. We ask our neighbors to shut down terrorist camps in their territory and they ask us to do the same. This saga never seems to end. What do we mean by banning these camps? These camps are not cola drinks that can be banned by a certain George Fernandez in power. If the people whose main aim is to kill others were so civilized and followed govt. orders, then this problem would never have raised. I have no clue why people are given the publicity they don’t deserve. The media has consistently failed to prioritize things and this is a perfect example. A certain news channel quickly grabbed the opportunity to interview Ms. Bhutto (where was she all these days) and ask her as to what she would have done if she were in power and Ms. Bhutto being the opportunist she is, started the blame game. Agreed such interviews make a good watch but then, is this really required at this point in time. We have better work to be done for better people.
The blasts could have been avoided but I guess it’s easier said than done. Fine, the blasts took place. But now what? The media could have definitely tackled the situation in a better way than asking irrelevant people to talk on the resilience of Mumbai city. I personally refuse to accept the fact that people of Mumbai are resilient. They are just too busy to be even thinking of such incidents. I have seen sights when a train runs over an individual and it takes just five minutes for the surroundings to return to normality. I do agree that people are helpful but such a nature also has its boundaries. This whole concept of resilient Mumbai is inviting trouble. This is neither 1947 nor the people responsible for the attacks are British against whom such tricks will work. We are just trying to cover up our shortcomings and resilience is the name we are giving to our inabilities.
I am sure a month later, no one would even think of 7/11. The only time the masses will remember the incident is on the same day, next year when again an issue is made out of it, there would again be a debate. Nothing’s gonna change because we have got used to the ‘chalta hai’ attitude that we have developed over the past decades. History will definitely repeat itself, not sure who the victims would be then. What’s sure is someone’s gonna lose badly and the rest will get back to work the next day.
Last week was quite eventful. The Mumbai blasts being the most talked about of all the incidents and that’s justified too. Everyone in this world did expect this to happen someday, probably more because of the fact that Mumbai has got everything going for it and any such incident would create a huge impact on each and every individual.
It was disappointing to see the pictures of bodies lying all over the place and train compartments ripped apart…. the same trains I traveled in for almost a decade. I still remember cursing the trains and all the pushing and pulling I had to go through on any given day in Mumbai. But later when I shifted base, I realized the attachment I had developed to such a life style and it might sound a little weird but I actually started missing it.
Anyways, back to the blasts. The news channels never wasted a minute to capture as much as they could and come up with their own versions of the story. There has always been this talk about the resilience of Mumbai, which I till date feel is a bit too hyped. And 7/11 was no different. Even before the bodies were cleared and victims were admitted to hospitals, the media had started debates and discussions on the ‘resilience of Mumbai’ and the participants??? Don’t ask.
I still fail to understand what’s the agenda behind such discussions. Firstly why was that topic brought up? What are we trying to convey to the people responsible for the blasts? Are we trying to invite them to ‘You kill my neighbor, I go to work tomorrow’ game? And what’s with someone blaming Pakistan for the terrorist camps established there? Terrorist camps are there all over the place and blaming just one country for it is no solution. Let us first look into our back yard before putting the blame on someone. We ask our neighbors to shut down terrorist camps in their territory and they ask us to do the same. This saga never seems to end. What do we mean by banning these camps? These camps are not cola drinks that can be banned by a certain George Fernandez in power. If the people whose main aim is to kill others were so civilized and followed govt. orders, then this problem would never have raised. I have no clue why people are given the publicity they don’t deserve. The media has consistently failed to prioritize things and this is a perfect example. A certain news channel quickly grabbed the opportunity to interview Ms. Bhutto (where was she all these days) and ask her as to what she would have done if she were in power and Ms. Bhutto being the opportunist she is, started the blame game. Agreed such interviews make a good watch but then, is this really required at this point in time. We have better work to be done for better people.
The blasts could have been avoided but I guess it’s easier said than done. Fine, the blasts took place. But now what? The media could have definitely tackled the situation in a better way than asking irrelevant people to talk on the resilience of Mumbai city. I personally refuse to accept the fact that people of Mumbai are resilient. They are just too busy to be even thinking of such incidents. I have seen sights when a train runs over an individual and it takes just five minutes for the surroundings to return to normality. I do agree that people are helpful but such a nature also has its boundaries. This whole concept of resilient Mumbai is inviting trouble. This is neither 1947 nor the people responsible for the attacks are British against whom such tricks will work. We are just trying to cover up our shortcomings and resilience is the name we are giving to our inabilities.
I am sure a month later, no one would even think of 7/11. The only time the masses will remember the incident is on the same day, next year when again an issue is made out of it, there would again be a debate. Nothing’s gonna change because we have got used to the ‘chalta hai’ attitude that we have developed over the past decades. History will definitely repeat itself, not sure who the victims would be then. What’s sure is someone’s gonna lose badly and the rest will get back to work the next day.
-- AHAK
posted by KD @ 2:38 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
i agreee AHAK that the blame game and the media jus loose sight of the situation and lot to diverte from the topic or at tims give an overdose of an issue and at times create stories when none exist. Sad but true it has been happening for a while and those who r effected are marked for life for others its just a passing thought and nothing more
smriti
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