Mumbai Train Tragedy

A heinous crime was committed in Mumbai on July 11 and about 200 innocent civilians returning from work lost their lives. The tragedy and the Mumbai pride have been expressed very well by Amit, Gaurav and Uma. In addition to posting updates on their blogs, these three and some others, did a terrific job at Mumbai Help trying to get in touch with stranded folks in Mumbai and keeping their loved ones updated on the internet. Now, that is useful blogging and one of the best uses of the technology, that I have seen. Thankfully, the city of Mumbai returned to normal (as normal as possible) the next day and there was no follow-up violence. Violence can never be the answer to violence and it surely doesn't help reach a solution. What happened to Mumbai train passengers can be compared to what happened in New York City in 2001, but still the coverage in the world press has been minimal.

I have been to Mumbai only once and spent only a few days there, but still I was sad for what happened there on July 11 (and it is not 7/11 but 11/7, according to the Indian style of writing dates) and at the same time proud to read about so many humanitarian acts towards strangers. The folks at Mumbai Help stayed up till the wee hours of the morning giving hopes to the ones in different continents about their loved ones and trying to contact them quite frequently. It was a day/night when both the best and worst of humanity was exhibited. Unfortunately, the worst took a toll of several lives.

The one thing I keep wondering (whenever a terrorist attack takes place) is what message do the terrorists want to send by killing normal working class people. Are they trying to threaten that they have the capability to cause damage and more might follow? Or is it just a senseless act on their part that we can't reason out? Why don't they want to sit and talk, like humans are supposed to resolve conflicts? What purpose can they be serving that needs 200 lives? I just don't get it.

Bombings seem to be continually happening in Mumbai. The previous big one was in 1993 and the culprit on that one is still at large. So the first and foremost thing to do would be to identify the responsible set of people for this one and bring them to justice. Only then can the common person feel safe in Mumbai. One can only wish that politics and money don't influence this in anyway. And then, security measures will have to be beefed up in the train stations and other transportation areas. Also, intelligence measures will have to improved (a cabinet minister said that there was some intelligence information on some activity but he did not know when or where, which is ridiculous as even I can say that). Providing safety for its residents is one of the most important duties of a Government and no amount of economic progress can substitute for that.

In the meantime, this incident illustrates the fragility and transience of life. So enjoy every day and don't worry much about the past or the future. Try to be nice to people and if not, stay away from such people. If there is nothing good to say about somebody, don't say anything. Perform random acts of kindness and spend a lot of quality time with your loved ones. Don't bicker about who is better than whom, as in the end, everybody is treated the same. And let us hope the people who died on the 11th rest in peace. And let us hope for peace.