Imagine.
Now that I'm calmer than when I first posted about the Delhi blasts, I'm going to attempt to actually write out the million thoughts swimming in my head.
When I switched on NDTV to watch the evening news as I usually do, Vishnu Som was talking about the horrific train accident in Andhra Pradesh. Right in the middle of that bulletin, unconfirmed reports came in about the blasts in Paharganj. My knee-jerk reaction - our will to deny is unimaginably strong - was to dismiss it as being another one of those crude bomb-blasts that seem to plague Delhi every so often - the kind in which one or two people get killed,forgotten as soon as you put the newspaper away. But the gravity of the latest situation soon became clear as reports of other blasts in the city started pouring in.
I remembered that it was the 29th of October today - I was supposed to be in Delhi this week. My train back to Bombay was to depart from New Delhi station this evening at 6 p.m. The blasts at Paharganj took place outside this same station at 5:38 p.m. If my trip to Delhi had worked out, I would have definitely been caught in the blasts in some way or the other. If nothing else, I would've been stranded in Delhi for a few days at least. Guess chronic inefficiency has its own purpose in the larger scheme of things...
I've finally forced myself to switch off the T.V - it's the same old pictures, reports, interviews over and over. I can't bear to see the shaky camera pictures of forlorn sandals; I can't bear to hear the ululating of distraught mothers; I can't bear to hear the Prime Minister talk about India's fight against terror. I guess the part I find scariest is how mundane these reports of terror have become. Despite the initial denial, to be perfectly honest... I guess I'm not shocked at all. Maybe we've just gotten desensitized to horrific events; maybe it's our way of refusing to yield to the perpetrators of this senseless violence. Either way, what does it say about the current state of the world that you can't even shop for new clothes without worrying about disintegrating into bloody nothingess?
No one has claimed responsibility yet, but of course, the air is teeming with anti-Islamic sentiments. Most people seem to be construing this as an attack on Hindus by Muslims, given that Diwali starts tomorrow. What these people forget is that it's also Eid next week. Both Hindus AND Muslims were out shopping for their respective festivals. People from BOTH communities have died and suffered. People both BOTH communities are bereaved and angered. This was not an attack on Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Sikhs - it was an attack on civilians targetted solely for their striking innocence, not their faith. Communalizing this is only going to lead to further tragedies; I fucking hate that if it does end up being the work of a Kashmiri militant group, it will just add fuel to the insidious fire of the BJP/RSS/VHP and their mindless mininons.
I can't get through the phones of my friends in Delhi. Understandably, of course, but until I know for sure that they're okay, I'm not going to be completely at peace.
I hate to end on such a pessimistic note, but I need to (rhetorically) ask the questions that have been haunting me: What next? Where? And When?
When I switched on NDTV to watch the evening news as I usually do, Vishnu Som was talking about the horrific train accident in Andhra Pradesh. Right in the middle of that bulletin, unconfirmed reports came in about the blasts in Paharganj. My knee-jerk reaction - our will to deny is unimaginably strong - was to dismiss it as being another one of those crude bomb-blasts that seem to plague Delhi every so often - the kind in which one or two people get killed,forgotten as soon as you put the newspaper away. But the gravity of the latest situation soon became clear as reports of other blasts in the city started pouring in.
I remembered that it was the 29th of October today - I was supposed to be in Delhi this week. My train back to Bombay was to depart from New Delhi station this evening at 6 p.m. The blasts at Paharganj took place outside this same station at 5:38 p.m. If my trip to Delhi had worked out, I would have definitely been caught in the blasts in some way or the other. If nothing else, I would've been stranded in Delhi for a few days at least. Guess chronic inefficiency has its own purpose in the larger scheme of things...
I've finally forced myself to switch off the T.V - it's the same old pictures, reports, interviews over and over. I can't bear to see the shaky camera pictures of forlorn sandals; I can't bear to hear the ululating of distraught mothers; I can't bear to hear the Prime Minister talk about India's fight against terror. I guess the part I find scariest is how mundane these reports of terror have become. Despite the initial denial, to be perfectly honest... I guess I'm not shocked at all. Maybe we've just gotten desensitized to horrific events; maybe it's our way of refusing to yield to the perpetrators of this senseless violence. Either way, what does it say about the current state of the world that you can't even shop for new clothes without worrying about disintegrating into bloody nothingess?
No one has claimed responsibility yet, but of course, the air is teeming with anti-Islamic sentiments. Most people seem to be construing this as an attack on Hindus by Muslims, given that Diwali starts tomorrow. What these people forget is that it's also Eid next week. Both Hindus AND Muslims were out shopping for their respective festivals. People from BOTH communities have died and suffered. People both BOTH communities are bereaved and angered. This was not an attack on Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Sikhs - it was an attack on civilians targetted solely for their striking innocence, not their faith. Communalizing this is only going to lead to further tragedies; I fucking hate that if it does end up being the work of a Kashmiri militant group, it will just add fuel to the insidious fire of the BJP/RSS/VHP and their mindless mininons.
I can't get through the phones of my friends in Delhi. Understandably, of course, but until I know for sure that they're okay, I'm not going to be completely at peace.
I hate to end on such a pessimistic note, but I need to (rhetorically) ask the questions that have been haunting me: What next? Where? And When?
posted by Auri @ 1:28 AM
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