Thursday, February 5, 2009

Daddy Daddy ………padosi ne firse maara (The neighbour hit me again)

The line looks alright for a kid who has been tormented by her neighbor but when a 60 year old country start doing that we instantly know that there is something wrong with the way things are going.

If you still didn’t get it I am referring to the actions (or should I say inaction) and reactions of our government 2 and half months post 26/11. It’s baffling that a country which boasts of a growth matched by few across the globe, a country having a population of more than a billion and a country which is fast becoming a major force on the world stage can only cry foul and do nothing about it.

Frankly I am sick and tired of our ministers running to America and garnering support so that they fight our war. It’s been a routine that the news channels bring some gora on their screen who is more than willing to say things we want to hear to come on TV. We are winning …we are winning …seriously .Seriously can anyone else in this planet help us? The answer is NO. There might be some noises here and there to make different countries sound deeply concerned and with us but what beyond that.

The leadership has to realize that the world only respects those who take action on their own – crying like a 6 year old will not help our 60 year old country in any way. Look at Israel – they took action and WHAT action, and then went to the world to justify .Let me make it clear I am in no way endorsing what Israel is doing in Ghaza but I want to make a point. US or any country in the world can only help you if and only if you help yourself. Its not a coincidence that all of a sudden almost all the western countries who thought India to be untouchable cannot stop singing tunes of their great inbuilt friendship with India after our economic turnaround and nuclear empowerment.

Friday, December 26, 2008

An angry confused Indian …..

For many of us the last 30 days have been full of array of emotions which we thought were only meant for soap opera news channels or the large screen film industry. We had everything from anger and rage to despair and helplessness. But the fact was no matter how fast these emotions kept changing there was a background for it ---of remorse, sadness and what next? It was almost like a black background which is painted with different colors every single day.

While the whole world watched 10 men creating mayhem in an ill prepared state people finally ….finally started asking a basic question – if we are the worst hit state in the whole world by terrorism in the last 20 years why are we still so unprepared. What will it take to wake up the authorities of this sleeping country who do not care if there comfort zone is in place. The anger was visible and thankfully escalated by the media. It was different this time as it was directed at politicians and not communities—the comfort zone for the politicians was not there – They were unable to go to one community and bitch about the other and vice versa- all communities were standing together for the first time in my lifetime. Apart from Mr. Antulay (the self proclaimed face of minorities) everyone behaved in a responsible manner.

The anger swiftly transcended from our netas to our neighbors- who by the way are doing this for the last 25 years. While Pakistan went from defense to denial to aggression we cried and cried foul in front of the world community- the response was very encouraging as I read in the Indian media. I was hopeful. But then one fine day a friend of mine suggested about what's going around in our neighbors media – the same story – the world community is appreciating Pakistan's role in fighting terrorism. So what should I do? Do I believe my politicians who are making the right noises at every forum or do I suspect that they are buying time for us to forget 26/11 and move to the general election. I am confused and I am confused because I don't know if anything is actually being done to improve the situation. I am confused that should I think about "If it happens again" or "when it happens again" coz I if WE don't change it will not be a matter of IF but it will be a matter of WHEN. Do I believe in the Singh to be the King or … The irony of the situation is of all the countries on this planet the United States is giving us advises on how to react when you are hit by terror – Its painful and as I said its the only emotion that's constant over the last one month..