As a child I believed nothing could possibly go wrong in Mumbai. If something did, then the gargoyles at Victoria Terminus (now CST) would come alive, grotesque creatures of massive strength – to counter the evil befallen over the city. The angels would come to life, bright and strong and engulf the city in their protective embrace.

The bombs went off like clockwork. Eleven minutes. Seven bombs. Leaving behind a life full of mourning for some, extreme pain and sadness for the others. The gargoyles still were made of stone, the angels still stayed put, the lions still in their half snarl frozen for eternity.

But Mumbai will still bounce back, she has already. Indeed she is on her feet, strong again, not scared, not looking back.The families which have been destroyed, the limbs that have been lost, the fear in the minds of the children, and the images which will haunt us forever – about that we can do nothing.

Soon that will pass too, and after the forensic investigations, the damaged compartments will stay put in a car shed, perhaps in full view of the public as we pass by. So we will pass them by – lost in thought, lost in conversation, listening to our favorite radio stations, watching the city rush by from our favorite window seats, or hanging out of the train for cheap thrills – until terror strikes yet again.

So wake up people, before its too late again – switch off your televisions. Don’t let the 24×7 news channels make you believe anything. They are merely trying to make a quick buck by increasing their TRPs at the expense of your emotions. If you must believe something, believe it because you have seen it, because you know it. Do not pay heed to the politicans, they are mere opportunists trying to further their political careers on the shoulders of our dead. Do not blame a community, a religion for the terrorist activities for terrorism has no nationality and no religion.

Mourn the dead, but also plan for the future. This attack proves that we have lapsed, something somewhere has gone dreadfully wrong. And we need to see our shortcomings to come up with remedies. We must rely on nobody but ourselves. We must be the angels and the soldiers who will safeguard this city and her people. We must save our city from coming under attack again.

But how do you think we can prevent this from happening again? Any suggestions?

On most days school kids would want to play hookey and bunk classes, at the smallest pretext. But Wednesday July 12 was not such a day.

School kids in all the schools of Bombay were more than eager to get back to school to play their part in standing up in defiance to the acts of yesterday. Call it the innocence of youth, or a die hard spirit, the city of Bombay is proud of its kids.

Less than 24 hours after the serial blasts in Mumbai, the kids were back in school. Even terror attacks couldn’t keep these young children away from what they set to do, study.

Fearless and undeterred, they claim that nothing can stop life for Mumbaikars.

“My parents have asked me to go to school. They said there is nothing to worry, no terrorists. It happened yesterday, today is new day,” said Arun Pal, a student of Shree Sarvyajanik Balmandir School.

The undying spirit of Mumbai has once more come alive with the young faces braving it out in the face of terror. [ link ]

From CNN-IBN

Mumbai came to a shocking standstill on July 11 when serial blasts ripped through its local trains, killing and wounding hundreds. But the city of dreams stood fearless and fighting fit.

Salute Mumbai’s never-say-die spirit and Light a Candle for those who succumbed to the blasts or got injured. For every candle you light, CNN-IBN and Channel 7 will donate Re 1 for the relief of the victims.

In the aftermath of the train blasts of yesterday, IBNLive.com has been an excellent source of live TV coverage.

If you want to follow the TV channel, and do not get it on your TV set, then go online.

On the top right side of the ibnlive.com website u will see a link for live TV. They have a great streaming video stream and its absolutely free. And the coverage, is as good or as bad as it comes. More good…. !

Stranded Passengers

As per latest news, the death toll from yesterday’s blasts in Mumbai has risen to 190 and more 600 people have been injured. I have been practically glued to the phone and television since last nights. Relatives and friends from all over calling/messaging, wanting to know that their loved ones are safe and sound.

While watching the Television last night and today morning, I couldn’t help but wonder – Are the Politicians of our country far more dangerous and even bigger villains then the terrorists who carried out these bomb blasts?

I mean at one end we have hundreds of innocent lives lost and many more seriously injured lying on hospital floors and on the other hand we have the likes of BJP minister L. K. Advani who was practically loosing his breath over bad mouthing the central government. He blamed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre for “failure” to ensure internal security. Gopinath Munde and Shiv Sena leaders also followed the same path of bitching and provoking citizens against Pakistan and Congress leaders.

Do we really need to hear all this bull-shit at this hour too? Do we need them to instigate further aggression among regular Mumbaikars, who have already been thru so much in the past couple of weeks? Do they want to ignite Hindu-Muslim riots once again in my city? Why can’t they stop playing their name-games for once and try to look beyond their political aspirations?

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Kudos to the people who could not have done better. For example, the traffic policemen who made sure that the traffic kept on moving. I learnt that efficiency and empathy can be balanced well by police as well. I also learnt that:

1. Commercial spirit is alive and well. The newspapers and tabloids will come tomorrow. Thus, it’s time to rant about TV. Close ups of the dead bodies, which should be captured and pasted all over Rajdeep Sardesai’s house were not the only distasteful sight on TV. Advertisements for houses (Flats at Bhiwadi, Lucknow etc. from Mtech developers, thank you, on IndiaTV), underwear (Dollarclub Innerwear on Aajtak) and education institutes (Coaching classes on Zee News) proved that whatever happens in this world, the commercial spirit will not flag.

(more…)

Ashok Row Kavi, a firebrand gay rights activist, and someone who leaves behind no prisoners when it comes to shooting from his mouth has this to say….

Have just returned from film city at Goregaon, one of the north western suburbs. The highway is full of vehicles going northwards with trucks and busxes full of commuters too afraid to use tghe crippled suburban rail network.

Everyone is calm. Women are being chaperoned to the next stop. Young men are herding unaccompanied children into trucks to be taken home.

It’s nonsense that the Sena will take to the streets. Yesterday’s bandh was so beautifully stage-managed that it is difficult not to believe that the Congress/NCP were not part of the ‘plan’. The Sena’s back is broken and nobody really believes it’ll ever come back.

The TV is showing the bombed bogeys. What is curious is that all the bombs were placed on the western suburban line; the bombs have also gone off near Muslim dominated stations so this may be a trick to instigate communal riots and I hope neither community falls into the trap.

All thgat one see is patient lines of people trudging home. It’s one hell of a city. Within a month, floods, bandhs by irresponsible politicians and now terrorist bombings.

I wonder when the last straw on the camel’s back is packed on.

SAJA: The South Asian Journalist Association based here in the US has set up a resource website for journalists.

As per their communique to Mumbai Metblogs

Since 10 am this morning, SAJA has fielded media requests from more than 30 organizations looking for help for everything from freelance journalists on the ground to whether to call the city Mumbai or Bombay.

To help journalists cover this story, we have put, on SAJA.org, a constantly updated series of resources.

You will find:

* Names of US-based experts who can talk about various aspects of this story.

* Names of journalists in Mumbai who can help.

* Blogs and other web resources covering this story.

Check out their site if you are a journo and want to cover the story.

From initial forensic reports, as reported on CNN-IBN today morning, RDX and pencil triggers seem to be the tools of the blast.

RDX has a long association with Bombay. It was the explosive of choice way back in 1993 and has made periodic appearances down the years in nearly every terrorist attack.

Pencil triggers are somewhat of a newbie in terrorist attacks here.

Suketu Mehta , author of “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” was online Tuesday, July 11, at 3:30 p.m. ET to discuss today’s bombing attacks and analyze the political situation in Bombay.

A transcript from the Washington Post follows.

Suketu Mehta: Hello and welcome to the discussion. I was raised in Bombay and now live in New York; I spent several years writing a book about Bombay, ‘Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found.’ In the book, I investigated the serial bomb blasts of 1993 and spoke to some of the bombers. The events today bring back the ghosts of 1993. I now live in New York but have been following the events all day.

Washington, DC: Any news about whether the bombings are connected to the Shiv Sena riots that have been taking place in Mumbai these past few days?

Suketu Mehta: Not to my knowledge. The Sena riots were over the defacement of the statue of the widow of the party’s leader, Bal Thackeray. But your question points to one of the greatest dangers looming on the horizon: the threat of large-scale retaliatory riots organized by militant Hindu parties like the Shiv Sena.

Continue reading the entire transcript here.