The terror shook the base of the Aamchi Mumbai once again – The so called “city that never sleeps” literally did not sleep for those two tragic nights. The stab has left behind deep scars which might never level out. As I ponder and look back at those three days of my life when I constantly imagined the banging of the door, the house being barged into, the switching off of lights at night sending a chill down my spine, and the fear of death staring at me on the face, I realize that it suddenly instilled into me a maturity that I never possessed, the realization that once I leave home in the morning for college, class and office, there is a probability that I might never return.

I might not have suffered even a negligible percentage of the trauma that many did face, but I have come to realize a lot of things which might just stay with me for the rest of my life span :

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->The “undying spirit of Mumbai” and the fact that Mumbaikars boldly face all such circumstances is as unreal as a mirage in the desert. The spirit has actually suffered a setback. Many might not agree, but I really believe, let’s just do away with this hyped up nonsense – let’s simply accept the fact that it did shatter each one of us to atleast some degree. It surely did scare the shit out of us.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->I had been eagerly waiting for those times when I would turn 18 years of age and join the rest of my family to the polling booth. This time that I am actually eligible to vote, I doubt I want to any longer…..Who do I vote for? Aren’t they all a part o f the same dung? Do we really have a choice?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->Well, actually, we don’t miss the terrorists too often…..when they are not in town, we have Mr. Raj Thackeray to fill in the space…..Riots, curfews, taxis and buses being blown up, people being mercilessly injured and killed is not an unusual site in his absence. Just the doers of such misdeeds are the terrorists this time. All I can hope for is that he does not degrade himself again by bringing up the whole issue of Maharashtra devoid of North Indians ever again. The insult that he faced in the hands of the media and the Mumbaikars should hopefully be sufficient enough to bring him back to his senses.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->My level of imagination went only to the extent that food, oil and other such basic commodities provided by the government could be adulterated and of highly cheap quality. However, we paid a very heavy price in terms of the death of innumerable commandos and army men to realize that the bulletproof jackets supplied to them were nothing more than five kilograms added to their weights – they were of the cheapest possible quality and in no way prevented bullets from piercing and tearing through their bodies.

I might just be tagged a pessimist, but I really doubt if these incidents and subsequent resignations by many of our already incompetent politicians will in any way change the situation for the better. All that we can do is hold our hands near our hearts, bow our heads and salute the real heroes of our country – the army men, the commandos and the police forces.

In the meanwhile, Mr. Ram Gopal Verma, did you find a dumb story to add to your wasteful crap that you gifted to Bollywood after the tour through the devastated Taj? Maybe you would just title it ‘Taj ki Aag’ this time? And for Riteish, we understand that you do not have enough movie projects in hand, but it would just be better if you could stick at home instead of engaging the police force and guards to take you around, atleast not now when the city is yet trying to recover and when the forces have better work to do than take you around for a tour…..what say?