Lot has been said and written about 26/11 Mumbai attack. How is it different from other terrorist attacks? Some would argue that it is for the first time society has witnessed a face-to-face combat with 'terrorist'. Before 26/11 all terrorist attacks were hide-a-bomb-n-run type. But for the first time in history the world confronted with terrorists in a way that was never recorded.  This time it was not the common (wo)men that were targeted but also the elite of the society. Not crowed places like stations but hotels. For a traveller, hotel becomes their home in the destination of travel.

Like many, I saw the entire Mumbai carnage live on television thinking I might have been there dining with someone I loved. It was not one hour or two but more then 60 hours ordeal and with every passing minute the fear of un-known increased in me. What if some other 5 star hotels in Delhi or other Indian city are also targeted? Do we have enough NSG soldiers to fight at multiple locations at a time?  What if there are more terrorist just waiting to attack? I was not at the ground zero and so had the liberty of thinking; thinking all what-if questions.

I have witnessed many terrorist attacks before. But the audacity with which this terrorist attack was executed has shaken me completely. The fear has settled deep inside me. I have always prayed for health, prosperity and happiness. But now I would pray to have a natural death. I would pray to my God so that I don’t become a mere statistics in a terrorist attack. 

 

Every body who is somebody has an opinion to make. The blame game has started. Be it Mughal, British, Politicians and now Bureaucracy historically speaking, we have been comfortable in blaming others for our misery. And the funny part is that after the blame game is over the same person once held responsible is reinstated.

‘Post 9/11 the world would not be same again’, said Americans. And they damn changed the world. It is only after 26/11 the world (including me) understands what Bush was talking about. Let’s not take long to understand what India has witnessed. Replace Mumbai with any other city and the pain, agony and fear would be same.

Terrorist are not criminals. Terrorist are terror gods. And it is important to understand the difference between the two. Criminals commit crime to be in a better place financially and socially. They value their life more than others. Where as terrorist spread terror to create continuous fear. They value others lives more than theirs. A criminal would never jeopardise their own life as they wouldn’t be able to enjoy their booty. Whereas terrorist wouldn’t think twice before blowing themselves up. Crime is a social problem whereas terrorism is a mental problem.

Our society is prepared to tackle criminals. The laws and system is better equipped to keep criminals in check. But for a determined terrorist the system just fails. 21^st century has brought a new challenge. The world is not the same. The society needs to change to fight the new menace; the menace of terrorism.

To begin with the first step would be to differentiate between terrorist and criminal. Terrorism calls for international co-operation and single-mindedness to fight back. There should be zero-tolerance against terrorist. New laws and mindset should be created to fight terrorist.

Terrorist have no religion or state. No terrorist is Muslim or Hindu, Pakistani, British or Afghani. Terrorist are just terrorist. They are un-religious and non-state members. They are mentally sick people. They have no respect for society. They have no rule book to abide by be it religious or social. They kill all children, women or hospitalised, just all. They kill others as enemy and their own as a sacrifice. They spread terror brazenly without restrictions or limitations. Symbolically, it is terror without capital ‘T’.

They are hypnotised zealots brain washed in the name of religion or state. We need to prevent people from becoming a terrorist. And if they become one then set them right so that other terrorist-in-the-making get a befitting reply.

What about scepticals who would say that the State may twist the fight against terrorists to get rid of criminals. Well then I would say history is the best teacher. If States misuses their terrorist laws it would be creating a new Taliban. Ask an American post 9/11 what it costs to create a Taliban. Or an Indian post Babri Mosque demolition.

Being born and spent most of my years in Bengal I have been greatly influenced by Bengali culture. One of the early foods for thought shared by a Bengali with me was - ‘a word is mightier than a sword’. I don’t remember who said this, but am pretty sure he was somebody in his mid-seventies at that time, somebody who had seen India in the pre-independence era. The era when India had great scholars who picked their words like workers picking up diamonds in a diamond mine.

The world has moved on since then. And so has India. Recently I observed an interesting phenomenon. The phenomenon came to my attention post Mumbai 26/11 carnage. Celebrities sharing their thoughts on important social events; something I call ‘celebrity wisdom’.

Celebrity wisdom isn’t a new phenomenon but in this age of internet/blog it becomes more interesting. It gives us an opportunity to know what goes on in a celebrity’s mind, first hand without any edits.

Post Mumbai carnage many celebrities have written their views on it. A few of them which are interesting are as follows:-

Note: My idea is not to ridicule anybody in particular. More than any particular person my comments are directed to the ideas articulated.

1. One celebrity wrote that he slept with a gun under his pillow the night he heard about the incident.
2. Second one complained that not many celebrities have come out in public to make a statement against the incident.
3. The third said that there are two sides of society. Side A and side B. In A the fanatics become terrorist and in B the government.
4. The fourth celebrity had his response well orchestrated and polished. Being an actor he executed the TV interview as if it was an impromptu show.

What was the first celebrity thinking when he wrote that he slept with a gun under his pillow. Does that mean he had lost all faith in police and country’s security forces that keeping a gun made him feel safe? Many years back all the villagers in Bihar (an Indian state) were massacred in their sleep by a local gang. I wonder how did the neighbouring villagers react to this incident. Taking cue from this celebrity, I bet they would have asked for the whole gallantry to be at their bedside.

If this celebrity had his way the Mumbaikars would have lived in boats post Mumbai floods. What was the celebrity thinking when he kept the gun under his pillow. Probably he would have said “Maa kasam, tera khun pi jayuga. Kutte chun chun kar marunga” (Swear in mother’s name I would drink your (terrorist) blood. Dog I would kill each one of you).

The point is that one should act judiciously and not get carried away with emotions. And even if they get carried way with emotions, one must present the thoughts in a way that convey the meaning. If fine literature or figure of speech is the argument in favour of using the phrase then why was the celebrity caught with a gun at an airport few days later? Word is mightier than sword.

The second celebrity complained that not many of her contemporaries have responded to the carnage. What is this? Is it some sort of cricket match were anybody who is somebody needs to make a comment on how the players played or which way the ball swung? In the world of electronic media and 2 minutes of fame, we have more celebrities than history has ever witnessed. I wonder what happens if all the celebrities come out and make public speeches on any social event that occurs. Word would cease to be mightier than sword.

The third celebrity thinks either it’s A or B. In side A, fanatics are terrorists and in side B the social figures infuse riots and social disturbance. She argues creators of both the society are well respected in their own domain. I guess the celebrity wanted to draw a parallel between two societies. She wanted to draw home the point that terrorism exists in various forms; one created by terrorist and others by political and social figures.

I think its plain play of words. I don’t advocate either of the two societies to be correct. But then we cannot confuse terrorism with riots. They both are enemies of societies in general. But in riots the commoner is equally responsible as the rioters. The general public plays puppet in hand of rioter. In terrorism, the terrorist spreads terror all across. Nobody gets mercy. If there own people protest then they themselves become the victim in the name of sacrifice.

The fourth celebrity gave a well edited interview. Every word finely picked and delivered with ease. Something you would probably expect from a seasoned actor like him. I wonder why he gave this interview. The society had just been beaten down. It needed leadership and direction, not a repeat of political rhetoric. I wonder to keep the TRPs and eye balls glued, the media had nothing else to do but to catch each celebrity and ask them how they feel. After a scarp one feels relaxed, after a joke is cracked one laughs and after such brazen carnage one feels disgusted, helpless, insecure and in deep pain. It is a known feeling/expression where there is nothing new.

If a word is mightier than a sword then why can’t people refrain from using words just because it exists in a dictionary? Literature is not a grammatical arrangement of words. It is a dance of ideas that plays on the tunes of the writer.

Before the new year kicks in here is my memoir for year gone by.

JANUARY 2008
The assignment I was working in for the last year had came to an end. It was a great experience. We had a great team and an inspiring boss. She was more of a mentor. She liked my work but had reservation in recommending my name for a client facing role. Or ‘onsite’ as it’s popularly know in IT industry.

Her reservation had helped me set my goal. Being in the consulting division my daily rates are much higher. And so justifying my skills to my peers for ‘onsite’ role was difficult. But I was determined. I knew I just needed one opportunity to prove myself.

I spent the January setting my goals, firming my resolution and searching inner peace.
In midst of these personal hullabaloos I had my share of fun. The company had organised salsa classes for her associates. Having two left legs in dancing I grabbed this opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zones. Also it was to let somebody know that I wouldn’t be a bad choice as her partner for ‘strictly come dancing’. But a bad dancer is a bad dancer and nothing can be done about it.

FEBRUARY
The winters had set in. Thanks to my comfortable flat and great flat mates, life was easy in Delhi winters. Our helper was a great cook. He cooked delicious food for us. I always used to end up eating little more because of his love in serving food and insisting on eating one more bread or some more lentils. I had documented my New Year resolution and took it seriously. One of them was being in shape and so had started gyming. The salsa teacher had organised a small event for us and it was participating in that event.

Around mid February I was selected for an ‘onsite’ assignment. It filled me with a desire to excel. I wanted to thank God for it. With one of my old pals I went to pay homage to the Hindu shrine known as ‘Vaisho Devi’. It was snow led walk of 12 kilometres to the hill top to be completed either on foot or horse back. I decided to walk bare foot. It was my way of saying thank you. The whole trip was fabulous except for the fact that I had serious blisters at the end of the trip. The condition of my feet was pretty serious. Serious enough to impact my onsite travel. I had lived in constant agony. At one point it seemed as if a great opportunity was slipping from my hand. It was in these dark moments I learnt one of the biggest lessons of life. The lesson of treating my body as an abode of God or as it’s said ‘body is temple’. I can not respect God by mistreating something He has created i.e. my body.

MARCH, APRIL & MAY
I was in London working for an insurance client. My supervisor was a great guy. He taught me lot of things both technical and soft skills. The assignment went well. My contract kept getting extended. I was asked to stay the longest with my supervisor. The last day of the assignment was interesting. We had decided to pilot the processes we had designed. But given the limited budget and time it wasn’t possible to pilot it on real users. So we decide to pilot it on the group leaders who were involved in defining the process in the first place. We had selected them as champions who would sell the ‘new way’ of working to others in the organisation.
We got hats for various types of users in the pilot. Like one for project manger, PMO, Finance board, etc. It was taking the phrase ‘wearing the hat’ literary.

JUNE
The assignment got over and I left for India; Kolkata to be accurate with a couple of hours stop at Delhi. Friends had come over to meet me at the Delhi airport. One of my friends was getting married. His engagement was in a week’s time. I had promised him that I would surely come back to the city for his engagement. A big social gathering is something I don’t look forward to attend but then I had to change my ways. A big social gathering for me may be the most important event in somebody’s life. But in this case it was as big an event for my friend as it was for me. I remember during our MBA days we used to spent nights discussing girls. And now finally he was getting hitched.

Kolkata was as usual. It seems time freezes in this 'city of joy'. Nothing changes here. Absolutely nothing. Meeting parents as always was great.

JULY to DECEMBER
The new assignment bought me back to London. It is a Bank this time with new boss and new set of challenges. Work wise it has been great working here. I am still living the experience. The boss and colleagues are wonderful. They have inspired me. Being aware of the length of this blog I would write about them in a different blog.

Good bye 2008. Thank you for being such a good year.

Welcome 2009.