48 hours of media coverage, in action through out the world, is something even WTC 9/11 did not get.
This group of 26 people has done more for terrorism than any war could do.
Spineless politicians all over will find a way to gain out of this crisis, out of miseries of others, trust them for it.
And India will forget, Bombay will be resilient and will be used as doormat.
Raj Thackeray would want passport for all outsiders, as if these 26 guys came in with visas.
Terror is here to stay, like bad roads and crowded stations.
We have to find a way to secure our lives.
When the ones who seek more than a third of your income to provide you the basic, and they don’t, you ask them a couple of times to improve and eventually retain that hard earned to find an alternate provider.
Gabbar used to seek a handful of grains to save the people of Ramgarh from his won wrath.
That’s what this government is doing.
Let us find or become Viru and Jai.
What will you do?
Would you be the same?
Every trip you take,
Every friend you make,
Every hotel you check,
Every dinner you partake.
Will life be the same?
Or will you resolve,
To have the same motivation
To live in peace
To fight for that piece,
To ask and to seek.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Bombay Burning
I plan to write a cheque for Rs. 600 for the staff of Taj Group of hotels, Bombay. The amount being a token amount similar to my first ever stipend or salary I received in the year 1990, as an apprentice steward.
Of course they do not need this money. It is just a gesture of solidarity from an ordinary citizen who thinks he owes at least the gesture to the men who served till the last.
Till the last news came 9 of hotels staff had lost their lives trying to save guests, including the GM and his family.
What happened In Bombay and not Mumbai I insist can not find blame anywhere.
If it can happen in New York and London, it can happen here. Any amount of intelligence and preparedness can not eliminate these incidents.
One thing is sure, these things will occur and reoccur, and the best that we can do is get used to it, do what we will be doing tomorrow anyway.
I think it will take much more than these to wreck the nerves of Bombay. Incidents like this unite India; they make Raj Thackeray look irrelevant. Who usually are doing more damage than all the terror strikes?
I have virtually grown on the streets that faced the onslaught last night. Right from the Taj where I had the best job of my life. Bar tending at 1900’s the then Disco, I have room serviced to The JRD in person, and my appointment had come after a personal interview from the then GM Kerkar himself. I was in first year at college and tips in dollars were not the only thing that I was seeking.
Not every one could afford a pint of London pilsner at the bar, at least some of our college mates for sure. And any one who has a little knowledge of bar tending would know how easy it was to make one extra beer out of three beers.
The staff of the hotel was where the city of Bombay gets its soul from. Though from the roots themselves, Marathi as an unofficial language, Bandra English as filler, but courteous and professional to the core.
3 minutes for the morning tea from order to the door bell and 7 minutes for break fast. We had to report back and all timing was noted.
Peeled potatoes, folded napkins, learnt to walk with a dozen beer glasses on top of your palm amidst the dancing drunks, froze the glasses before serving champagne.
Served topless ladies every Sunday by the pool.
I learnt more of life in one year than a decade elsewhere.
This is the least I can do.
Of course they do not need this money. It is just a gesture of solidarity from an ordinary citizen who thinks he owes at least the gesture to the men who served till the last.
Till the last news came 9 of hotels staff had lost their lives trying to save guests, including the GM and his family.
What happened In Bombay and not Mumbai I insist can not find blame anywhere.
If it can happen in New York and London, it can happen here. Any amount of intelligence and preparedness can not eliminate these incidents.
One thing is sure, these things will occur and reoccur, and the best that we can do is get used to it, do what we will be doing tomorrow anyway.
I think it will take much more than these to wreck the nerves of Bombay. Incidents like this unite India; they make Raj Thackeray look irrelevant. Who usually are doing more damage than all the terror strikes?
I have virtually grown on the streets that faced the onslaught last night. Right from the Taj where I had the best job of my life. Bar tending at 1900’s the then Disco, I have room serviced to The JRD in person, and my appointment had come after a personal interview from the then GM Kerkar himself. I was in first year at college and tips in dollars were not the only thing that I was seeking.
Not every one could afford a pint of London pilsner at the bar, at least some of our college mates for sure. And any one who has a little knowledge of bar tending would know how easy it was to make one extra beer out of three beers.
The staff of the hotel was where the city of Bombay gets its soul from. Though from the roots themselves, Marathi as an unofficial language, Bandra English as filler, but courteous and professional to the core.
3 minutes for the morning tea from order to the door bell and 7 minutes for break fast. We had to report back and all timing was noted.
Peeled potatoes, folded napkins, learnt to walk with a dozen beer glasses on top of your palm amidst the dancing drunks, froze the glasses before serving champagne.
Served topless ladies every Sunday by the pool.
I learnt more of life in one year than a decade elsewhere.
This is the least I can do.
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