Dedications

Bombay once famed as a city of dreams in now reduced to rumbles of a city of fear. Now one ends up even dreaming fear. The recent terror attack has once again proven it even stronger. Its’ not that we don’t have enough fear to live with. Every day for most Bombayites even reaching home alive is a dream. It does not have to be just a terrorist attack. Even a train journey to work and back home is a risk. A drive on Bombay roads is a risk. Rains are a risk. Eating food and drinking water is a risk. Breathing the air is a risk. Hoping of a city that is governed by law and order is the biggest risk of fear.

Recently we had people from the MSN party rough up officials as the roads were in a bad condition. Now will they rough up the police as they too not functioning? Will they rough up politicians for the blasts? How much more Bull Sh#T is Bombay going to cope with and live with? After the terrorist attack of 26/11, we had one of the ministers who commented that such small incidents do happen in big cities. Now we have our CM proudly claiming that Bombay is not a soft target. We are not interested in knowing the density unit of hardness that Bombay is able to withstand attacks. We want to know the hardness of the law to deal with it? In our country media does the role of the police and covers crime and the police literally ‘covers’ crimes done. The judiciary has to function like the government and the government does the job of the mafia, by bullying innocents who decide to fast to protest and extortion of tax payers money which is done through scams.

With a population that is in multiples of some countries in the world, the city is bursting from it seam, and now we are bombed out of it. Those who are not affected care a damn, and for this attitude we are paying a price. Why not blame ourselves for the rut we have regaled ourselves too? Why do we need a PM visiting us when there is a crisis? How is the visit going to change anything? In fact it would be a blessing if the biggies from the centre stop visiting us, and when they do, they get the city to a grinding halt. Extra security is pressed in to protect their precious souls. Roads are blocked to traffic and their presence is a bigger pain to the already pained city. The passing the parcel game goes on and on. One party blames another. Wish all politicians would play a real game of passing the parcel and the parcel they pass on had a bomb; at least that way some of these jokers could be wiped out.

Every terrorist attack is indirectly hinted or alleged to have its origin in Pakistan. If that is so, and since we lack the balls to wage a war with them, can we stop the ongoing peace dialogue with them? A country which itself is getting blown to pieces daily what peace are we trying to make with them? Stop this cricket diplomacy and any other diplomacy to stem the problem. India gives a list of people that they want to be tried in India for various crimes, not realizing that a name in the list is a person who is in India. Now if you don’t know who the culprits are, what are you negotiating with Pakistan?

The killer of Afghanistan president’s brother recently was lynched and hung in a public place. If this can happen in Afghanistan who not in India? We don’t have to be feral in our approach but at least can we have Kasab and Afzal Guru face the gallows. These guys get high level security and citizens get none. Scam tainted politicians and tycoons enjoy a life a luxury in prison. If Bombay is a city of dreams and we continue believing, things will get achieved dreaming of better law and order, no more bombings, effective police……..Keep dreaming.

One of my earlier blog was on ‘My God is bigger than yours’, which highlighted the competition with the display of Lord Ganesh idols and their sizes and creativity during the festival of Ganeshotsav. The competition amongst Churches on cribs made during Christmas time, depicting the birth of Christ, and even families participating in the same, competing with display of the cribs in their homes. The competition amongst the biggest or the maximum number goats sacrificed during Eid.

Then there was or is a trend of which God is miraculous, from the episodes of Lord Ganesh drinking milk which was countered by Christians of their religious idols drinking milk, or weeping tears or blood. It was euphoria and everyone wanted to know where the next miracle would happen. Everyone is now searching for a God which is better. In the process we have the pseudo secularism that gets hyped when people of other faiths visit a religious place that is not of their belief. I believe it’s great and I too also participate in visiting other religious places of worship, but my point is when you can’t get along with people of other faith, how are you trying get along with their God? Can we not start by reaching out to people and then try to reach God?

The problem is we want God to solve the people problem, national problem, weather problem, or any problem, when we are the problem or create it. We are the problem that only want to see problems in a person of another faith or in his faith. We are the problem that allows religious preachers who spew venom on other person’s religious faith or belief, to prove superiority of their religious faith. In Bandra a place in Bombay metropolis, there is an unwritten rule not to sell houses to Muslims. I still don’t understand the reason behind it, but my point is you cannot sell or don’t want to sell a home to a person of another religious faith, what God of another faith are we trying to show respect too? What peace are we trying to achieve with neighbouring nations, when we cannot achieve it amongst ourselves.

Now the latest finding is the priceless amount of treasure stashed away in the underground vaults of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in South India. The value is only mounting in multiples of billions, with every passing day of auditing the treasure find. The debate now engaged is to whom does this wealth now belong too and what should be done with it? One of the suggestions was the wealth belongs to the God of the temple, and no one has a stake to it. Now what is God is going to do with this wealth? Did God ask for it? The acquisition of this huge amount of wealth which was kept in the vaults may have its various theories including of atrocities and evil ruling practices of the kings during their period by taxing people, including tax for breasts and moustache.

So now begins a new wave of Godly competition where wealth of various religious institutions is publicized. It is like an achievement and race of every religious place that wants to be in this new competing league, of which God has more wealth or can garner it. Why is that we can’t get into competing to make India a better place to live in? Why can’t we not compete and get out of the tag of ‘developing nations’ to a developed nation.

Can we not keep competition of wealth accumulation for people who feature in the Forbes magazine, and not stoop to featuring God there and trying to prove ‘My God is richer than yours’.