Mumbai Attacks - The Seven Good Things You Should Know

Hello, readers. As we all heard, the Mumbai terror attacks started on the 26th of November this year, and the snipers are still going at it as far as we know. Now, a lot of negative things have been written about these attacks. Everything and everyone that can be blamed has been blamed - politicians, the government as a whole, the apathy of Indian citizens, the rabid communalism in India, Islamic militants, Pakistan, China, the USA, Greg Chappell, Bin Laden, etc.

But let's stop a moment and consider the positive aspect of things, shall we? Here goes, then.

1. This is India's most severe organized terrorist attack to date. Our politicians must be so happy that our country is considered powerful enough and democratic enough to provoke random killings by minority militants. "Just like USA, we are. Beer, nukes, problem with China, terrorist attacks, everything we have."

2. al-Qaida links have been touted in connection to Pakistan's hand in all of this. The USA defence ministry is probably ecstatic that India and Pakistan are not only still at loggerheads over anything and everything, but that Osama bin Laden can still be blamed for all the world's problems. [Note - US Republicans will read Osama as Obama, by the way]

3. Raj Thackeray will no longer have a political leg to stand on. More North Indians, Delhiites and Marathis died trying to protect Mumbai than Maharashtrian Mumbaikars. From a purely vengeful point of view, a great amount of grim satisfaction is due to all non-Maharashtrian people who had to suffer due to this ridiculous Raj's communal posturing. I don't know about you, but this makes me, personally, very happy.

4. Many stalwart stars of the police and special forces have died, shot fatally by the terrorist snipers in the head, guts and chest. These men were some of the bravest, most intelligent and experienced fighters on the planet. I've no doubt that criminals across the country are rejoicing at the headlines announcing their heroic deaths.

5. This attack has scared a large number of corporations, luxury hotels, apartment complexes, malls, schools, etc to step up their security measures. Indians can no longer look at CNN reporting bomb-blasts somewhere else in the world and think - that could never happen to us. From the point of view of the Indian government's security and defense branch, that's a good thing, provided people take this threat seriously in the long run.

6. The nation is horrified that this kind of thing could happen in India, in Mumbai of all places. The reality is that bombings and attacks are nothing new to certain parts of our country. What about Jammu and Kashmir, and the NorthEast? Maybe now that people in the financial capital of the country know what it feels like to live under the threat of violent death, there will be more sympathy and help going out North and North East after a while. When people realize that every life counts, regardless of state or assets, that's an improvement in terms of common humanity.

7. In hotels like the Taj, the terrorists released more white foreigners than they did Indians, and many more Indian citizens were killed as opposed to rich Caucasian
people who were held hostage. Maybe I sound overly bitter, but this should at least reassure the tourism industry that India is a safer place for Western tourists than it is for our own people.

Please, leave a comment with feedback if you did/didn't like this post.

Much love,

Trisha.

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Warning!! Sentiment Overload

for a friend


when you say the right thing at the right time
you make me smile, because it was what i wanted to feel
when you do the right thing in the right way
i'm thinking you're the best thing that ever happened to me
you're like the familiar roadsign, two miles away from home
you are the one place in the world my wounded heart wants to go
you're the sun behind my cloud, the eye of my storm
you're the one person in my life i would do anything for
when i'm broken, you pick me up and put the pieces back together
when i'm empty, you tell me that i have you forever
when i'm riding the wave, i know you're beside me
when i crash-land back to earth, i know you'll still be there for me
and whatever happens, know that i'll be there for you
cross my heart and hope to die if that's not true
in good times and bad, in hope and in sorrow
you know that i'll still be here tomorrow
both of us against the world, loyal to the end
god knows i love you forever, my sister, my friend.......


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The Maze

Twisted maze, running through my brain
sudden corners, dead ends that come alive at night
coil, spring, jerk and recoil the thoughts
the confusion cannot decide where to begin
I wander, wander, trying to lose my way
but the lie is the key to the truth, I should know this
there is a web of revelations, it hangs from the sky
but I will only see it if I choose to see it
I twist and turn like a storm
breaking away, yet clinging to the ground
and there is nothing I would not sacrifice, to be at peace.
but then the morning comes, and the clouds split open
the look of the sun makes me give it a sleepy smile
the air hums in soft anticipation around me
I wake, and then reassurance and logic clear my head
I sigh in relief, that the maze is straighter now
and I smile, I am grateful that I can be happy in peace
I feel as though I am swimming in joy
so in the middle of a happy backstroke, I go back to sleep


Trisha

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Yeah, he did

World, stand up!


Because President Obama says yes, you can.

in reference to


http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8

is the following response. judge for yourself.

dear mr. we need mccain

Response – to Dear Mr. Obama video on Youtube, posted by mr. we need mccain.

Dear Mr. we need McCain, this is a personal message for you


Forgive me when I say this, but the US soldiers in Iraq did not die defending the freedom of Americans or of Iraqis. They died because at a certain time, a number of US politicians and lobbyists and power-players decided that the US needed a monopoly on the oil reserves of the Middle East. Obama is not disrespecting the soldiers and their families when he says the war was a mistake. It seems clear he believes, like me, that you should be giving those in power a slap in the face for sending brave and patriotic men like you to die for the sake of America’s grip over the world economy when the fuel crisis hits.

Dear Mr. we need McCain, I am an Indian, living in India, I’m a teenager, and I have no stake in who wins the US presidential election. yes, Obama's eloquence is impressive, and yes, McCain’s experience is vast, but here in India we are very used to political leaders who promise change and experience, too, and most of them don't live up to it in any case. From an objective outsider's point of view, then, it sounds like you're mad at a presidential candidate because he states that sending the cream of America’s youth to a destructive, pointless and frankly manipulative war was a mistake. Men like you are surely needed in your own country, to work, to raise families? and you defend a man like McCain, who would send you to war again, who would find new, resource-rich, impoverished countries whose people suddenly need to be 'liberated' in the name of 'democracy', where you, not you personally perhaps, but your friends in the army, would go to sacrifice themselves? I’m sorry; perhaps it's because I don't approve of war in the first place that I don't understand the republican compulsion to 'fix' the world's problems with guns and ammo.

And personally, I find it offensive that you believe that the USA is responsible for freeing the world. We’re fine, thank you! Apart from a limited few, no Iraqi will ever say that things are better post the US troops. Previously, they thought US citizens were just un-Islamic, capitalist westerners with too much money for their own good. Now they think that the USA wants to wipe out Islam, that all American soldiers are brute infidels and that white people are essentially a poisonous race, in the same way that many Americans believe Iraqis are unchristian, fanatic, terror-mongering, uncivilized people. This is the backlash of war on human nature.

Obama has the potential to change that, because he stands for tolerance. McCain does not. That is my considered stand. I had not taken sides previously, but your well-prepared speech has forced me to rethink that. I feel for your plight, I do. that was a moving appeal, but I do not believe that Obama would for one second call your sacrifice, your pain, the adjustments you must have had to make, your patriotism, any of that, a mistake. No-one with a minimum of intelligence would call your loss a mistake. You did it because you believed in your government. But I believe your government made a mistake when it played you for a fool, sending you to fight for oil and assets and power in the name of democracy.

I hope you will reconsider your stand. If you do not, that is your right, and I respect that. But while all of you over in the USA are still fighting it out, I just thought I’d let you know something. Here in India, people who respect human rights, tolerance, and peace and want a stable economy are hoping to see president Obama meet with Manmohan Singh in January. only those who are hoping for outsourced jobs, more US dollars pouring into our economy, the kind of people who couldn't care less about the rights and wrongs of politics, are supporting McCain.

Please, do take the time to reply. I respect you immensely and I would be honored to know your response to my opinion.

With love, from India

A friend.

p.s. - just think for a second, Mr. we need McCain, whether, irrespective of your own needs, the world needs Obama more.