Mumbai Attack and I!

Public is in the roads saluting the heroes. They are paying homage to the shaheeds... Here I have a different feeling. May be the same. Let me express. I live near Nariman House. For 60 hrs, I was inside my PG (I live with a Muslim family) all glued to the television. We were watching NEWS till 2, 3.. and getting up early. I knew it will not get over before 48 hrs. In between I was answering my worried relatives and friends. Let me begin from the beginning.
We were sitting in front of the television watching the repeat rather re-repeat telecast of the serials and cribbbing "Kal office jana hai!" Suddently at 09:40 my room-mate informed us that some one opened fire in Leopold (I never liked the food there) We immediately swtiched to NEWS. We thought its another Jessica Lal! Some personal issue and some richie must have opened fire. It flashed after a few minutes that gun shots were heard at VT/ CST, then focus moved suddenly to Taj. We thought its either gang war or police encounter. My landlady suggested terror attack. We immediately rubbished it. How is the possible she herself said. Even Mumbai riots in 1993 did not reach the cosmopolitan Colaba.
We heard dhamakas then near our place. I was the first one to say, "shaadi main pataka phor rahe honge!" The local braveheart Puran Doshi soon proved me wrong. He told the NEWS channels that some people are firing from top of an Israeli building. It was clear within the next few minutes that those bloody terrorists are sitting on our chest and firing point blank! In the mean time we heard another dhamak. This time I agreed it was a bomb!
What happened next we all know. But I want to share something else. One Mumbaikar called me up saying this will get over within few hours and we will be back to normal. That is the Spirit of Mumbai. I begged to differ. It was only common sense to guess that it would last for more than 48 hours, I told her and hoped Mumbai will be different this time.
The last such incident I recall happened in J&K. It took them 12 hrs or more. See I do not even know! Shame. So I guessed this will take longer. I remember Gujarat government warning Maharashtra government a month back that 50 dreaded terrorists have entered Mumbai via Gujarat of course. These bastards came from Porbunder. Anyway, I went to sleep at around 2! They had already called NSG commandos. Late but... NSG commandos informed from Delhi itself that they will begin their operation at 3! And 3 they started. Aunty, my landlady was wake till 4! She confirmed the time and action of the Commandos. Imagine these guys do not have their own aircraft. I remember passing a statement only last nite "yes they will arrive soon because I am sure they will come in their own air craft." I was wrong!
I was up at 7! Usually I get up at 9 for office! Spent half the day watching television. Now restlessness began to settle in. I was missing my laptop especially when I had to stick to the Hindi NEWS channel as aunty is not comfy with English. And you know they have their exclusives. However they restrained to some extent. The number of deaths and injured kept increasing. You could sniff politics in air. Soon it was Friday morning and we woke to the noise of choppers that were dropping the Commandos at Nariman House. Last night they managed to recover 10 hostages! So I sat in front of the television once again sipping tea, feeling completely drained and exhausted. There was curfew outside. I started realising my bondage with techonology. Today (Monday morning), I am only jumping from one blog to another. That day I felt cut off. Anyway, they said the operation in Nariman House will be over by 2 pm. Next to impossible. But Oberoi was now safe. All the terrorists were neutralised, the MARCO said. It brought some smile. Even Nariman House got over by night! But those bastdars had killed the rest of the 5 hostages and put their body over mines! However Taj was far from safe.
Next day, our commandos had neutralised the terrorists in Taj and we woke to a new morning. And new morning it definitely was. It had showered as if welcoming the freedom we were to enjoy. It was this day that I felt the affect of terror. My room-mate and I were dying to go out and smell the fresh air. It was today I felt guilty about the way we treat the people of J&K. The youth of J&K have no idea what freedom means. They were born in curfew and grew up in it. Why do we have this step-brotherly approach. And what about northeast. Do these people know what freedom is. Will they ever know? It is only today I know what freedom is, even though it is I who chose to stay inside all these three days. Only three days. I could have gone out and shouted Jai Hind on Friday evening when the NSG commandos came out after the operation got over there.
60 hours it flashed on television that Mumbai fought with these terrorists. People flocked these places to salute the heroes. Heros who said that this was nothig compared to many of their past operations. But it took 60 hrs. Thats a long time for Mumbaikars, who hates to waste even 60 seconds. We saw them in the same position waiting for the terrorist outside the hotels, them inside the hotel battling with them. We realised how difficult it is. Now imagine, they spend months together in jungles, in snows, in water away from their family, with no proper food or water. In anger, in frustration, in pain, in sense of duty to kill those who dare step on our motherland. Some lucky ones manage to kill those bastdars, some get killed in the process and some kill themselves (suicide). For what? A Kadahar! For a Lt. Col. Purohit. How could a desh-bhakat sipahi do this? What must have led Purohit to do this? We need to find the answer.
So Saturday afternoon my room-mate and I went out to breathe freedom. We went to Gateway. Taj was not the same any more. There were Commandos, Army, RAF, police, fire-fighter... everyone, cheered by the people. It was here I got the biggest emotional upheaval of my life. My parents will never be proud of me. They will be happy about whatever I achieve but they will never be proud of me, the way the family of these soldiers are of their sons. Today when I know what is this PRIDE and HONOUR our soldiers take about, I will fail to give my parents that joy. Today I can shout Suniel Shetty's dialogue from Border and say : Jo meri dharti maa pe kadam rakhega usko main chir ke rakh doongi. I wish my country was child and I could hold it in amy arms and protect it. Nonetheless, I will make sure my child (whenever I have one, girl or boy) serves Indian Military in any which way. This is the only way I can salute the ones who are selflesssly defending us.
JAI HIND!