Attack on Mumbai

As is my everyday ritual during lunch time, I logged on to the Times Of India Web Portal to read the eNewsPaper of the Mumbai edition when I spotted the breaking news.

I got home early as the office closed for the Thanksgiving weekend at around 3:00 pm. Since then my home resembles a "Situation room"! The TV is tuned to BBC which provides a live link to a Indian TV channel- the subtitles are in Marathi! Three laptops are pulling live video feeds from different Indian News Channel. The phone is ringing all the time as friends call to share their anguish.

I was at the Maha Ganapathi temple in Flushing NY today morning where I joined in a prayer meeting. The Mayor of NY, Michael Bloomberg attended and camera crews from TV stations were interviewing members from the audience for their comments on the Mumbai situation. priests from the temple recited mantras for peace and well being of all.

One of the mantras :

Peace Invocation
Om taccham yoravrini mahe
ghatun yajnaya
ghatun yajnapataye
daivi svastirastu naha
svastir manushebhyaha
urdhvam jigatu bheshajam
sham no astu dvipade
sham chatushpade
Om shantih shantih shantihi
We worship and pray to the Supreme Lord for the welfare of all beings. May all miseries and shortcomings leave us forever so that we may always sing for the Lord during the holy fire ceremonies. May all medicinal herbs grow in potency so that all diseases may be cured. May the gods rain peace on us. May all the two-legged creatures be happy, and may all the four-legged creatures also be happy. May there be peace in the hearts of all beings in all realms.

I was touched by the simple ceremony and my thoughts and prayers went out to the unfortunate people who were suffering in my home city.

As always Mumbai gets to face up to a new form of terrorist action. We do not need the variety - our government's response for every and any type of repeat attack has been the same. The politicians will make their speeches, the Cops will blame it on "cross border"involvement, The PM will visit some victims in the hospitals, Rs.50,000 will be awarded to a family that has lost a loved one, the blood stains will be cleaned and the city will perforce limp back to normalcy while the media praises the citizens for their unity and bravery in the face of such an onslaught.

This time no one is amused. The Indian Government needs to learn how to protect its citizens. Nothing else matters! India cannot be a great country if its people's lives are in grave danger perpetually .

The Indian people are miserable, defenceless and hopeless.