Saturday, July 23, 2011

A time to Kill.

I have been trying to blog regularly, however thanks to all the new designs I have to churn out week after week at work, all the ideas teeming in my head seem to land on the backburner and its been a while since I have found time to blog,so here goes....

What was I doing on the day Mumbai burned again? An hour before the blasts at Opera House, I was 2 blocks away and found the place deserted. A lone Police van was parked  ahead of  the Lucknowi Chikan shop Normally this area is choc a bloc with traffic. I had to get back to work as my karigar was on his way to collect the embroidery ordersand I remember feeling that the silence was somehow,eerie.

13/07/11, 9/11,  these are becoming numbers for everyday Mumbaikars. I went home by the local train around  8 o'clock. I went back to work the next day. The news channels reported the events, casualties and its becoming routine ;this  media circus, the polititcians sound bytes, are all annoying to say the least.

Grant Road station East is a mess. There are police vans parked outside along with a group of men ,women and children who have made the outside area their makeshift home alongside garbage trucks. I am not surprised they found bombs planted in tiffins etc. There is zero security and honestly no one cares any more.
Santacruzz station East the foot overbridge which had shut down for structural repairs is teeming with beggars in the morning. There are hawkers below taking up every inch of space and no one's complaining. Santacruz
West suffers from the same plight.

People wake up only when the problem hits them, until then, everyone's sleepwalking or looking out for themself or sadly even,accepting of the way things are.
The last time there were blasts, I was in a faraway land watching the train blasts on T.V. as it happened;
but this time it was an hour away.


Come on Mumbai, we can do better than this. I have stopped giving money to the kids who beg at the station because it is obvious that they are part of a larger nexus.I don't buy from hawkers in the train because all of this is a part of a corrupt system which is not helping government to function.The reason I am saying this is because people are getting fed up and its not leading to creative action but instead its creating a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. The general feeling is outrage, but it is soon replaced with a "hota hai" attitude which is unfortunately, more dangerous and means we are becoming " benumbed".

Mumbai Mirror is doing some awesome work with their stories of the" Clean Up " Campaign by the college students, their achievements and failures in attempting  to get the BMC to do the work they are supposed to.Great Going Kids!! We appreciate the work you are doing.












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