3 days of choking and now outrage

They may not be my relatives. They may not be my best friends. But still they were my friends, my brothers and my sisters. We were all related by our country, our motherland India. And when I heard their horror stories , their trauma, their suffering for three days, I could feel it. I could feel the pain within me. At moments, my throat would choke. My eyes would fill with tears. Why are these beautiful, peace loving innocent people of this beautiful country going through such a traumatic punishment?

I saw the story of the son calling his father and asking him to turn on TV to see what is happening and then bidding him good bye.

I saw the story of little Moshe being rescued only to be informed a few years later that he was orphaned during the bloodiest terror strikes on the beautiful Indian soil.

I saw a choked person explaining on NDTV how he has lost six members of his family while he went to park a car in the parking lot at CST railways station.

And there are many more stories. Initially there is pain in everyone’s hearts. And then comes the outrage, the anger that says enough is enough. Is it surprising anymore? Is it surprising that people have completely lost their faith and hope in the establishment that is responsible for their security so that they can do well and pay taxes and take the country forward? People have tolerated it for too long. For too many times. The anger and outrage were quite evident this time. And it was clear that people will tolerate, rhetoric and routine bullshit from the establishment. Those who tried the routine rhetoric and playing down exercise had to face the heat and will face it much more strongly if they do not understand. Shivraj Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh, R.R. Patil et al.

Is the whole political establishment getting mindless?

How mindless can you be to say Badi Badi shehron mein chhoti baatein hoti hai?

How mindless can you be to announce Rs. 1 crore for soldiers died fighting the terrorists while their families and the whole country are still mourning?

How mindless can you be to achieve political mileage by visiting the house of Late Sandeep Unnikrishnan? So is it surprising to see the behavior of Sandeep’s father? My father would have done the same thing.

Even as we are struck in the middle of an awful security crisis, our politicians are behaving worse than children. And they are blaming the media for antagonizing the people against them?

As a citizen of India who was excited to vote, I am no longer interested in voting at all. Because I do not see alternatives. I do not see anyone worth my choice. It will be an insult to my judgement. What were Mr. Advani and Rajnath Singh doing by not attending the all-party meet? Campaigning? Don’t they realize that they have completely antagonized the people with their behavior. That was such a foolish move. People were expecting them to show up and reassure their citizens that we are all united in this difficult hour. They could have shown their camaraderie by being constructive and suggesting concrete changes. They could have shown their leadership. These were the real moments where they could have displayed leadership and responsibility. But they didn’t. Because they didn’t care. Is that the behavior of a leader that L.K Advani claims himself to be? And they expect our votes?

Hence, here we are, the people of India, in a quagmire. Left with no options to vote. Because no one deserves our vote.We are outraged, we are angered. We are kind of feeling hopeless unless we take concrete action where a common citizen has more role to play than mere voting.

This is the moment, may be, when we think of redefining our constitution. Where, we make sure that our vote goes to one who well deserves it. The one who shows to the world, our love, our might and our pride.

This is the moment, may be, when each one us starts thinking each of us as a part owner of this country, beyond tax paying and voting. And the first ownership we should display begins from who we choose to head our country and thus demanding accountability on a very determined and regular basis from them.Thats a pledge we must take.

I hope this really is the beginning of a movement, a people’s movement where each one of us will participate in.

I hope I really do not forget and get into my comfortable 8 hours job.

I hope I start dedicating a part of my life towards a better India.

I hope whenever I am disappointed I will get back my motivation by thinking about the great sacrifices that the heroes have made.

And every one is asking : How can I contribute? How can I get out of my cocoon? How can I make sure things are not taken for granted?

I am thinking too.