Words aren't coming easy. So much has already been said about what has happened in Bombay, the city where I was born and spent a good 27 years of my life. A city which gives everyone a chance...now, even the terrorists. In the eye of this crazy storm of negative emotions are my feelings of pity, for these young boys who were brainwashed and sent to their deaths. How were they brought up? What were they before they became these killing machines? There was a piece in yesterday's newspaper which said one of them was given up by his father in exchange for money. Dirt poor, they were. Now they're rich? I don't think this could have been an easy decision, for the father or the son. Yet they made it and acted on it. And suddenly this isn't only about money. There are 'educated', well to do, 'everyday' folks involved in many/all aspects of these operations too. What leads them down this path, I wonder. What sense of injustice, of persecution drives them to plan and execute these dastardly acts? Do the results satiate them? Make them feel better? I doubt it.
While everyone talks of control and reaction, I'd like to speak of positive action...finding the root cause of all these ills. Is it religion? I don't think so...religion is also only another crutch, another means of brainwashing those who need something to hold on to in desparate times. These boys were mere puppets. We need to get to those who hold the strings. Yes, I suppose I seem like some kind of traitor, sitting here and typing away about people who deserve nothing more or less than our complete contempt. They probably always had enough of that, atleast in their minds. Was that what pushed them over the brink? If I feel helpless about Bombay, I also feel sorry for those boys who came here and caused such misery. They weren't bold, they were cowards, scared of some demon they were convinced could be exorcised only this way. They were miserable inside, there was something missing. I don't see an end to this problem unless we find that something and restore the self image and self respect of a people who are perhaps in a scarier hell than we are.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
'Horn ok please!', 'Buri nazar walay, tera mooh kala', 'Maa ka ashirwad, Babuji ka prasad', 'Hum do, hamari ek', 'Pappu teh Dinky di gaddi'....and all
When I'm not jetting or driving off to some crazy place thanks to my stars and planets which seem to be spinning wildly out of control in the past two odd years, I'm travelling the virtual world on my laptop. Came across a nice blog today ( can't link, don't know blogger, random find) where the blogger lists the places she's been to and I wondered why I shouldn't too. So, I sat me down and made that list. Mine seems modest compared to hers...but hey! atleast I have a list...so, grateful to dame luck for family ( parents and hubbusky and dotty) and all the unearned chances.
Ready or not, here comes the list in no particular order:
Bahrain
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Malaysia
Hong Kong
Hungary
Vatican
Thailand
Australia
Austria
France
Germany
Scandinavia
Netherlands
Belgium
Switzerland
Italy
Egypt
Turkey
UK
USA
UAE
Nepal
Sri Lanka
This is ofcourse besides our crazy Bharat Darshan trips by car ( and flight, mercy God!) thanks to hubby dearest's passion for driving across the length and bredth of our great country. If he had his way, he'd go around the world in his car. He wanted a son ( hmm) only so they could do a world tour by car together. Now, luckily for him, our daughter is proving to have the same 'drive'!
Have a friend in Gurgaon who'd taunt...'Have a baby, we'll see how you guys continue to travel like lunatics then'. And hey presto!...well almost! Dotty already has an enviable passport (her first flight was Delhi-Bangalore when she was less than 3 months old...her first trip abroad - test trip- was to Nepal at 6 months). She's an absolute darling whether it is a drive to Badrinath from Delhi or a flight to Miami via NY from Delhi. Total veteran at 5 1/2 ( Chashme baddoor!!!). I just pray that it stays this way and that she gets to travel the world and like she says often, to space even if it becomes possible in her lifetime. Nothing compares to travel when it comes to education in the real sense.
One thing that all this travelling has taught me is that being vegetarian is not so cool. I mean, it would have been so much easier for me to eat whatever was available wherever I went rather than waste precious time finding vegetarian food ..and desi, if possible. I hope dotty grows up without any biases but she already says she'd rather not eat a dead animal/bird/fish on a plate. I hope for her sake that that changes quickly tho I'd probably be grateful not to know.
Another thing I've learnt is not to stay too long in any one place as a visitor...it gets suddenly boring and there is this nagging homesickness which sets in and takes away from the whole experience. AND, I still haven't learnt to pack light. I am embarrassed but not enough to change, I guess. AND...never stay with family ( no offence - just in case my family is reading, hehe). Never everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. If you can't afford a B&B even, don't travel but never stay with family (immediate family is exempt thanks to immunity ofcourse). Similarity between family and fish - both stink after 3 days. Love and mirth and merriment fly right out of the window and a strange sort of discomfort takes over, for both the guests and the hosts. Just not worth it. So...!
Out of the many places I haven't visited, I'm eager to go to
Africa
Vietnam
Japan
Alaska ( Amreeka, I know)
Canada
New Zealand
Brazil and
Greece.
and in my own country, I'd like to visit Leh and Ladakh, Khajuraho ( Oye! Why the smirk?), Cherrapunji in the rains ( yes, why not?)...and I'd like to take my daughter to Kashmir before we lose it to some idiots with no foresight.
Ooh and talking of Kashmir, Pakistan is another country I'd like to go to. Traitor? No...just curious...like when you have kidney stones removed, you want look at them just to know what caused all that pain, no? LOL!
What scares Hubby and me is the day when age and health will force us to hang up our travel gear. We hope to be beamed up a la Spock before that happens.
Sometime soon, I'd like to gather the patience to write about each place I've been to and all the memories I cherish most. For that, I'll have to travel quite some distance back in time. Bon voyage, me.
Ready or not, here comes the list in no particular order:
Bahrain
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Malaysia
Hong Kong
Hungary
Vatican
Thailand
Australia
Austria
France
Germany
Scandinavia
Netherlands
Belgium
Switzerland
Italy
Egypt
Turkey
UK
USA
UAE
Nepal
Sri Lanka
This is ofcourse besides our crazy Bharat Darshan trips by car ( and flight, mercy God!) thanks to hubby dearest's passion for driving across the length and bredth of our great country. If he had his way, he'd go around the world in his car. He wanted a son ( hmm) only so they could do a world tour by car together. Now, luckily for him, our daughter is proving to have the same 'drive'!
Have a friend in Gurgaon who'd taunt...'Have a baby, we'll see how you guys continue to travel like lunatics then'. And hey presto!...well almost! Dotty already has an enviable passport (her first flight was Delhi-Bangalore when she was less than 3 months old...her first trip abroad - test trip- was to Nepal at 6 months). She's an absolute darling whether it is a drive to Badrinath from Delhi or a flight to Miami via NY from Delhi. Total veteran at 5 1/2 ( Chashme baddoor!!!). I just pray that it stays this way and that she gets to travel the world and like she says often, to space even if it becomes possible in her lifetime. Nothing compares to travel when it comes to education in the real sense.
One thing that all this travelling has taught me is that being vegetarian is not so cool. I mean, it would have been so much easier for me to eat whatever was available wherever I went rather than waste precious time finding vegetarian food ..and desi, if possible. I hope dotty grows up without any biases but she already says she'd rather not eat a dead animal/bird/fish on a plate. I hope for her sake that that changes quickly tho I'd probably be grateful not to know.
Another thing I've learnt is not to stay too long in any one place as a visitor...it gets suddenly boring and there is this nagging homesickness which sets in and takes away from the whole experience. AND, I still haven't learnt to pack light. I am embarrassed but not enough to change, I guess. AND...never stay with family ( no offence - just in case my family is reading, hehe). Never everrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. If you can't afford a B&B even, don't travel but never stay with family (immediate family is exempt thanks to immunity ofcourse). Similarity between family and fish - both stink after 3 days. Love and mirth and merriment fly right out of the window and a strange sort of discomfort takes over, for both the guests and the hosts. Just not worth it. So...!
Out of the many places I haven't visited, I'm eager to go to
Africa
Vietnam
Japan
Alaska ( Amreeka, I know)
Canada
New Zealand
Brazil and
Greece.
and in my own country, I'd like to visit Leh and Ladakh, Khajuraho ( Oye! Why the smirk?), Cherrapunji in the rains ( yes, why not?)...and I'd like to take my daughter to Kashmir before we lose it to some idiots with no foresight.
Ooh and talking of Kashmir, Pakistan is another country I'd like to go to. Traitor? No...just curious...like when you have kidney stones removed, you want look at them just to know what caused all that pain, no? LOL!
What scares Hubby and me is the day when age and health will force us to hang up our travel gear. We hope to be beamed up a la Spock before that happens.
Sometime soon, I'd like to gather the patience to write about each place I've been to and all the memories I cherish most. For that, I'll have to travel quite some distance back in time. Bon voyage, me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)