A Night of Agony!

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:51:37 +0000

Screams, pains, agony…these are a few words that could be used to describe what Mumbai was on Wednesday, 26th November, 2008. And here I – a person living in Mumbai since my childhood – is what I have to say about the entire issue.

Being a resident of a city, you do tend to have familiar attachments to the city, and have a distinctive, un-describable feeling about it. Living in Mumbai, you aren’t essentially a “Mumbaikar”, the stereotypical epitome, but you have a heart that feels, endures and cries for Mumbai. As I was writing something last night, a message beeped on my cellphone. Being connected to the media, I got an SMS stating how there was firing at South Mumbai – which many refer to as the ‘heart’ of the city. In a few more hours, I found my city in shambles.

News bulletins were giving out messages like:

Gunbattles raged between terrorists and commandoes and fresh explosions on Thursday rocked two luxury hotels -Taj and Trident (Oberoi) – after a night of terror targeting 10 places in the country’s financial capital killed over 100 people and injured over 300.

I’ve always had fond memories of Nariman Point- my first office was situated just near the sea. Also, Oberoi and Taj have been dear places for press releases. I remember going to these places for many press conferences. Now the sight of them burning awakens not only a sense of fear and sadness, but also gives birth to a strong, deep desire to catch those, who are doing this to my city. As 10 dead bodies lay dead in CST station – my heart missed a beat, for this, could have been me, or some one dear to me.

I cried, yelled, felt helpless and pathetic, all at the same time. Whenever someone tries to attack a city, they do it at one spot, or multiple spots, but the attack is over within a span of some hours. However, this is for the first time that some think like this has happened – the firing has been going on for over 14 hours now, at the time of writing this. The heart of the city is bleeding!

There is an phrase overused by the media (forgive me my co media associates!) which reads “undying spirit”. I’d say it’s precisely what is needed in Mumbai right now. The need to work – work at any cost, without fear, and with the head held hign with courage. People have to show the spirit, although everything around seems crumbled into a thousand odd pieces.

The worst part for me, personally, is to helplessly sit in front of my television screen and be a witness to all this torture and agony. A dear officer whom I knew has lost his life in the turn out of yesterday’s event. Mumbai has been shaken, and it’s about time when something is done about it. Tighten the security system, engage extra cops, and call in the army to intervene. But don’t let my Mumbai fall, don’t let it be crushed.

And this I say as a citizen, not a media professional!

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Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:08:23 +0000

So, we are back, with a new look that, we think, makes reading easier on the eye. After all, The MAG is all about making reading a pleasure for you. Commenting on articles, as you must have observed, has been enabled. Now you don’t have to go through the lengthy process of emailing us to express your opinions. So, feel free to comment on any article or story.

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The MAG » India

A Night of Agony!

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