Do or Die

There used to be a time when my father used to visit Delhi for shopping. The capital of India wasn't a safe heaven even then. There were a few occasions when we used to be worried about his safety due to tensed political situations, and bomb-blasts. The reach of terrorism was only upto Kashmir and big cities like Delhi and Mumbai, but recent incidents of terror attacks show that even small towns aren't safe. The entire world has become vulnerable to terror-attacks. We are watching the new face of terrorism. Terrorists are becoming tech-savvy, even highly educated people are executing terror attacks.

on 26th November 2008, Mumbai was taken aback once again by the deadliest and the bloodiest terrorist-attack in the history of India. Few guys sailed down to The Gateway of India with explosives and machine-guns. They took hundreds of lives at various places like Taj, Oberoi, CST, Kama Hosp, JJ Hosp, Ville Parle and finally, lost their own lives. That's their latest style: fidayeen attacks.

Hundreds of precious lives were lost. Many families were wounded. Few of them were our guests - from foreign countries, some were our brave policemen and commandos. Innocent people - men, women, and children - lost their lives and left thousands of relatives crying. And we were left horrified, scared and angry. How could such thing happen? How can there be no security at all? Isn't it possible to live in a fearless India? Its time for us to think about it. Everyone is trying to find the answers.

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We saw a lot of discussions and talk shows discussing the causes and remedies of such terror-attacks, but I wasn't convinced by the solutions the 'experts' came up with. Everyone talked only about strong laws, well equipped and active police, efficient judiciary system and better coordination between intelligence agencies and various forces. Well, these things are certainly needed, but we need something more. Something we've never thought about. I, surprisingly, didn't hear a single voice of concern against the 'hatred'. I think terrorism and hatred are synonyms.

'Hatred' is the deadly poison that if not controlled, can kill this world. We always hear about clashes between people of different religion, color, ethnicity, country, language, .. the list is ever increasing. Instead of fighting hatred, we are nurturing it, and that's why terrorism is increasing. Hate can't be fought with hatred within. Being strong is of course necessary, but being sensitive is must.

Another reason, I think, of terrorism is 'pessimism' amongst under-privileged ones of the society. Pessimism is often cultivated in absence of strong positive motivation and inefficient governance. Under-privileged are often trapped under the criminal-mindset. They usually end up hating the privileged ones. They blame only the society and the society for their own problems. Ignorance of self-worth prompts one to be pessimistic and causes hatred for those who are privileged. This is the time when one needs optimism, motivation and positive vibes. Motivational religious-thoughts and proactive governance can effectively kick negative thoughts out of one's mind and prevent him from hating others.

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Why have so many terror-attacks happened in India?

The simplest answer would be: Because our system has failed.

• It has failed to protect its own people.
• Despite of imposing infinite number of reservations and quotas, it has failed to bring social equality.
• It has also failed to spread the benefits of economic growth equally to everyone.
• It has failed to get a place into the hearts of its own people - the very people that make it. People no more have trust into this system.

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How can we fight terrorism?

Immediate measures:

• Sharp intelligence
• Strong & unbiased police force
• Efficient judiciary
• Better coordination between intelligence agencies and various forces

Long-term answers:

• Love is the answer to Hatred: Let us start spreading the message of love and peace amongst people. Let's say that 'we don't want wars, we love each other'.
• No more divisive politics: Politics has always divided us, into groups based on religion, cast, region and language. Let's hold each other's hands tightly and tell them that 'we are united, you can't divide us'.
• Education: One must learn that 'terrorism' is not the way to go. One must experience the joy of living in peaceful world, where everyone has a sweet smile on his/her face.
• Motivating religious leadership: Religion has become a bad word today, because of its representatives. People are going away from it, because there are very few religious leaders who teach us the very reason why religion is necessary. It teaches us that 'Other is not other, he is my divine brother. We all are children of one God. How can I kill my own brother/sister?'. We need religious leaders that bring people together.
• Economic prosperity: An economically stable person is less prone to hating the world. Living good life makes more sense to him rather than taking lives.

Think about it..

Why do people die in Road Accidents?

I have not been able to think of anything but an accident sight since I saw a dead body at a road mishap last night. The head of the victim became flat as it apparently was crushed by some heavy vehicle. Blood was spread around. I glanced at him for not more than 10-15 seconds, but I was so horrified, that I was on the verge of crying.

I have to write this as I can't concentrate on anything. I will start from an hour before I went thru this sudden trauma.

It was Yesterday, 6th October 2008 being one of my longest days in office. I left office past 22:00 hrs, which is not usual. I was hungry, tired and worried about getting a bus that would take me either to Koperkhairane or anywhere near. I bought a small packet of banana chips from a Paan-wala and marched towards the bus stop. For last couple of months since I'm at Powai branch of my company, every evening I wonder why there are no street lights around such a busy signal. The only light I could see came from the Head Lamps of the vehicles flashing directly into my eyes, trying to make me blind.

Finally I felt relieved as I reached the bus stop after crossing such a busy road. The bus to Mulund arrived soon and I rushed to get in. Those who live in Mumbai know the system of boarding the BEST buses. You have to be an athlete to get into the bus. The bus doesn't actually stop at the bus stop, it just slows down, those who want to get in almost have to run; and those who wanna get down also need to run for a while to slow their momentum down, thus to get balance. I somehow managed to get a place at the last seat, disturbing the duo who were enjoying the luxury of sitting on space of three persons. One of them resisted a lot and finally gave up.

The road was relatively quiet as there was not much traffic. I finished my banana chips. Our bus reached IIT in just 15 minutes, where the traffic was moving slowly till the bus halted on the slope towards Gandhinagar. The expansion of that road is in progress. I waited for the bus to resume the voyage that had just begun. Anxiety took over my mind and I kept looking at my watch thousand times a minute. It was 22:40 and I was still not even half way through. I heard people saying that the bus won't move soon as some accident has taken place ahead. I followed others who got down from the bus and started walking towards the nearest bus stop, that is Gandhinagar.

After walking for 5 minutes, making my way through jungle of vehicles, I crossed the first vehicle that was standing in front of the sight. I sensed that I've reached the accident place. I saw a police jeep and few police men. A very badly damaged Maruti-Swift and a crushed auto-rickshaw were also resting. I was least bothered about what could have happened. The delicious PavBhaji at SriDevi hotel was on my mind. So, with least curiosity, I carelessly glanced at my right side. I saw a person lying on the divider of the road. His head was not looking normal, I couldn't understand anything and watched carefully this time. I couldn't believe my eyes. His head was flattened!!!

'I was shocked' - would be an understatement. I had not seen such brutal death before. I wanted to forget what I had seen, but couldn't help it. Those images kept coming in front of my eyes. My blood pressure decreased and my hunger died. I started walking as fast as possible, gathering all my courage towards the bus stop. Thousands of thoughts took over my mind. I prayed God for giving 'peace to his soul'. I urged him not to let this happen to anybody. I didn't want to think, but I couldn't resist the scary thought - if I would have been at his place, what would happen to my family, my love, my friends. I was crying from within, but I had to control my tears as there were many people around me.

I was so afraid of death that I dropped the idea of going by an auto-rickshaw from there to Airoli Bridge. I went to Gandhinagar bus stop. There were about 50 people there. Many were discussing about the accident. I wanted to run away from those thoughts, but they were not leaving me. I helplessly stood there waiting for the bus. I got the bus upto Bhandup-Sonapur. I would again need to change the bus from there. My life sucks, I told myself, and to the God.

My heart denied the idea of having food, but my mind kept insisting me to buy some food as it was around 23:20 then. I listened to my mind half-heartedly. After waiting for 10 mins, I finally got the bus upto Bonkode, the place where I live. I reached home at midnight, changed, washed face for a few minutes and sat quietly.

I asked myself, how we can stop people dying from road accidents. I often thought of writing a post on our (yes, Indians') Traffic Manners. The idea took birth in my mind immediately after coming back from Europe. I started getting annoyed by our traffic sense.

• Vehicle drivers don't respect pedestrians and bicycle-riders. Absolutely NO Respect. Pedestrians think they're risking their lives while crossing a road.
• Nobody understands what on earth 'Zebra Crossing' is.
• School kids ride their bicycles without having known the traffic rules.
• In some areas in Mumbai, people ride their two-wheelers on footpaths!!!
• Auto-rickshaw drivers are entitled to break all the traffic rules.
• Public Transport drivers think the road belongs to them. They are entitled to break all the traffic rules. I can understand their frustration, as I see the conditions of Buses and Roads given to them, but don't forget: rules are rules.

I googled on people dying by road accidents in India, and I found out an article that says that

According to the latest official statistics from the Indian government, over
100,000 people were killed in road accidents in India in 2006 and nearly
half a million were injured. That means one accident per minute and a fatal
one every five minutes.

Isn't there something we can do?

Yes. Surely we can. But we will have to start from our own home. We must make sure we & our family members are not breaking any traffic rules.

• We can teach our younger generation traffic manners by example. Volunteers can make some movie/presentation, go to schools and teach kids by demonstrating. Parents can also be included in such exercise as they also need to learn this. We can urge them not to hand their young children keys of vehicles.
• We can also adopt Gandhigiri to teach people to pay respect to pedestrians, make them understand what a Zebra crossing is, why not to break signals. According to my knowledge, this experiment has worked successfully in Pune on a Gandhi Jayanti.
• We can ask the government leaders (whom we've chosen), to make good roads with "traffic signals for pedestrians".
• We can remind people that 'Not Wearing Helmet' is not a display of Bravery. There are lots of things for showing how brave you are.
• Various forms of media can also help creating awareness.

I'm feeling much better now, but I can never forget this incident. I could keep on writing as I am still thinking over and over about that accident. I'm paying tribute to the victim..