Om Shanti Shanti

I hear people give up on religious beliefs in the interest of preventing terrorism. It seems they take the lines by Colonial Cousins 'Religion is the reason, the world is breaking up into pieces ' too seriously. But honestly, the world will anyway break into pieces. If not religion there will be something else to take care of that aspect of human evolution. We need a paradigm shift in our understanding of terrorism.

Paradoxically, hatred is an emotion that people love to nurture. Add to that our daily encounters of fear, anger and jealousy that creates a pool of sewage where we sink our tender hearts . Then eventually comes one intellectual with amazing oratory skills and mind blowing convincing power, that points finger to a section of community while belonging to another particular section of community thus channelizing this sewage into that direction. So whether it's religion or something else depends upon the 'leader', and his/her oration. Hitler channelized this hatred against Jews, Osama Bin Laden channelized this against Americans, Hafiz Saeed channelized this against Hindus while L. K. Advani channelized this against Muslims, Rahul Gandhi used this against the saffron clad sadhus, Digvijay Singh against the anti-corruption lobby, Maoists against the capitalist government, KCR against non telangana brethren and Raj Thackeray did the same against north Indians giving equal opportunity to Sanjay Nirupam against Marathi people. What we need to understand here is what is at the core? Is it religion or is it a philosophy? If you look deeper you will understand that it's human emotion given a shape of philosophy that eventually vents into religion, caste, nationality, community et al . And the opportunity for such philosophies to crop up is plenty because the breeding ground of anger, jealousy and fear eventually leading to hatred is bountiful with our minute to minute encounters.

Our leaders have a hobby of collecting such pieces of hatred and then channelize them with their convincing power. "You see that fellow is going ahead of you killing your opportunity to progress" thus blossoming jealousy into hatred. "You see the way so and so religion is growing? They will soon eat up our space on this planet" thus allowing fear to rise into hatred. "You know why you were late for the interview? Because chaps from the unwanted community have occupied all of our public transport leaving no space for you to travel and breathe", sculpting anger into hatred. All these "leaders" need is; to nurture hatred in us which coincidentally turns out to be our favorite hobby. The argument they make to convince us seem plausible, since it is something we can relate to and is served to us in oration at its best.

Try to look little deeper, in their arguments; it's not the solution of the problem, but but it is our emotion of hatred that gets pumped up. And what is missing in all of the scenarios mentioned above is understanding of human values.

There is a very valuable quote from H. H. Sri Sri Ravishankar that says "Fanaticism flourishes when religious concepts are kept before human values." And there lies the solution to our problems. Understanding the depths of human values is what can help us get rid of these emotions.

I am not in denial of the problems people face. With increasing population and limited resources to live on, our socio-economic fabric is bound to go through the acid test. But we tend to find out solutions in philosophies that promote hatred, and probably because that's an easier way out. When it is hatred that we need to get rid of, we struggle to get rid of a particular community or religion. Who imbibes this hatred within us? Is it religion? No, it is a philosophy without the background of human values. It is religion without the spiritual essence.

Sri Sri has the perfect metaphor in this context, "Religion is the outer banana skin, while spirituality is real banana. People stuck on religion chew on the skin while throwing out the banana." What really is this word spirituality? Sri Sri puts it up simply, "Spirituality is nothing but caring & sharing ; offering oneself in service." When we are in service, we end up taking a voluntary responsibility, thus committing ourselves to be the social change agents, attempting to build an ideal society through love and compassion.

So changing our religious beliefs will not help since the trend says that our "leaders " always have some agenda to make sure we nurture hatred for the sake of their power in our society. Society changes, ideologies change, philosophies change, beliefs change, what remains the same is the "leader " with a pointed finger, with new ideology, new belief, new agenda to nurture hatred so that s/he can securely fasten the seatbelt of power and enjoy the ride while we juggle the tower of our principles and religious beliefs on the tune of those new philosophies. Whether it's the way Muslims say Aamin, Christians attend mass prayers or Sikhs sing Ek Onkar every religion in its every prayer harbors peace and happiness in our hearts. Observe the way Jews greet, Buddhist meditate, Jains live their lives and the Hindus end their sessions.

Loka samastha sukhino bhavantu,
Om Shanti Shanti Shaaantihi

(Let there be happiness everywhere.
Om peace peace peace)

The Silent Mumbai

There is a paradox in the tile of this blog itself. Mumbai a city that keeps buzzing can never really be silent. Even at night as the eye lids get heavy, you cant escape the energy in the air that resonates along with your morning alarm giving you another purpose to begin a new grind. Pu. La. Deshpande once described that, "Mumbai is the only city that knows that the clock has a minute's and a second's hand. This is a place where a watch is tied not just to a person's wrist, but also to his destiny." In this city of dreams, running is mandatory. If you are not connected with this essence of a Mumbaikar, you will certainly misunderstand a Mumbaikar's resilience towards terrorism as his/her apathy towards a subject of national grief.

I was buffering a clip where actor Siddharth was incorrectly canvassing Mumbaikar's inherent nature to work for himself as a stone cold heart that turns a blind eye towards a scar just cast on him.
I highly despise such insensitive comments. The actor sensing the lively energy in the city, concluded that the city has forgotten about its scars within a month's period. I have read and listened a lot of Mumbai bashing off-late. Critics have been heavy on this 'zindadili' attitude of Mumbai. I would want all of those guys to leave their comfort zones for once and get on field here when Mumbai is actually at seize.

When the terrorists were spraying their bullets across the city, there were stories of the common man on the road being brave enough to be at ground zero to help the injured. The city has never let the blood banks go dry in such times. Donations flood not just come in form of money, but also in form of volunteering. During every bomb blasts, it is the locals who have done the first aid even before the police or the paramedics arrive. When we are flood victims, the able cook food and pass it on to the needy. The next day we make a tally of our losses and make a new plan on how to run our lives bearing the catastrophe. Please don't blame a Mumbaikar of forgetting his/her scars.

I have friends who have taken months to recover from the trauma of 26/11 before mustering courage to take a glance at The Taj and The Trident. So Siddharth, if you think that people forgot about 26/11 a month later, then you are sadly mistaken. Do not expect an event of grief to be a piece of conversation on every dining table every single day. And talking about the issue over and over again is certainly not justified. You should make an attempt to give a vent to your grief and look towards the time ahead. As far as actions of Mumbaikars are concerned, you should have been there at the rally of 3rd December 2009. The anger of an average Mumbaikar was pretty evident in the posters, slogans their acts and voices. The aam junta this time was not blaming Pakistan, nor did it booed the terrorists. The protest constructively demanded justice and security from the government.

Yes I agree, the anguish did not reflect in the General Elections that arrived few months later. However I do not still attribute the low turnout as Mumbaikar's indifference towards emotional issues. I think that an average Mumbaikar does not consider politics as an answer to his/her questions a misconception that needs to be changed.

Overcoming yesterday's tragedy by setting out to work is a need in Mumbai. It is this need that drives its engines and makes Mumbai what it is. The resilience of the city begins its day 2 in remembrance of the tragedy, with high emotions, with fear but with a grit - a grit to work for myself, my family which in its own fraction adds some activity towards the nation. I see no reason to discourage this bounce back attitude of the city that in effect destroys the sole purpose of terrorism. I, a Mumbaikar, salute the spirit of the city.

Salaam Mumbai!!

Enough is Enough

Enough is Enough

Mumbai has seen and stood in resilience against all sorts of terrors.
Mumbaikars have seen explosions in cinema halls, petrol pumps, corporate offices. They have seen, trains, taxis, busses, rickshaws and for that matter even cycles being blown out to pieces. The entire nation feels the pinge when the families of such victims cannot do anything beyond mourning. The recent attacks on the two most prestigious and luxury hotels on Mumbai, brought out a new face of terror. The so called Fidayeens are no longer here to fear their death. A scary chill does run down our spine when such murderers come out with the power to sacrifice in the name of religion. Let us talk to Mr. so-called-Jihadi, in the typical Mumbai style. " Boss, we are not terrorized. "

Now for a moment let us turn our heads from the west (both, west to India and India's west) to the center. The question is, what were the government officials doing with the red alert report submitted by the RAW? Were they busy playing "Malegaon arrest politics " with the opposition? And the opposition gracefully spent their resources featuring the accused and the casses as their election mascot. Why arent our leaders not sensible enough to understand that terrorism is an issue sensitive enough to be not used for petty politics?

We need a concrete solution for the problem. We need some good leaders in place to take the due course of action. Had there been a single casualty on the parliamentary attacks, the scene probably would have been different today. Our leaders would probably have taken terrorism as a serious issue. Let us go out to vote, and vote for the best possible candidate. Let us collectively understand the responsibility of choosing the right leaders for us.

I remember after the mayhem at the Malegaon blasts, the affected Muslim families were brave enough to throw the compensation cheques back on the government's face demanding for an action on the issue. The nation is in a need to draw up some inspiration from the episode.

Right now, my heart goes out to all of the brave policemen who have died in the counter - attack. Let us all pray for the safety of all the hostages, with a hope that the trauma end as soon as possible.