Homecoming

After 7 long boring and uneventful months, it’s finally time to go home. But more than my project manager who approved my 2 week vacation, I need to thank those Wall Street financial honchos who created such mayhem in the global markets, forcing us to take up our leaves before the year ends. As a result, I am now in a position to step in to the new year with my friends and family after 4 long years.

In a Border style dialogue, “20 December ko, subah ka nashta Bangalore mein karenge, beech ka time pass hawa mein aur dopahar ka khaana Indore mein.” Those 3 hours in the sky would carry me from a world of deadlines, tasks, updates, reports and meetings to one of my parent’s smiles and the simplistic life in Dewas. So people, pray that a girl sits next to me on the flight and ask god to make her pretty, single and "Telephone-number-exchanging" kind of a girl.

Going home for holidays has always been exciting for countless reasons. I love the expression on my mom’s face when she sees my 3 week unshaved face with irritation. Surprisingly, every time I go home, mom feels that I have lost some weight despite the fact that I have bloated exponentially over the years because of obvious reasons. I think that is the pure love of a mother. Dad is happy too but is also worried about his car which I always borrow from him and return with a scratch. (Not that I am a bad driver, but again, obvious reasons)

I think that the people who are happiest to see me in Indore/ Dewas are the owners of various small eateries, restaurants etc. because during my vacations, their sales almost surpass the combined GDP of Botswana and Mozambique. And there is nothing new in it. I’ve been following this rigorous routine for quite some time now. This may sound a little geeky but I have a dedicated MS Excel file on my system with a list of all such eating joints which I am supposed to cover and a check box in front of each (Multiple check boxes in special cases). Given the fact that I am a huge foodie, a great admirer of street food, more than happy to relish those delicacies even on my deathbed, that Excel is completely justified.

Once again, I will meet my hip-hop-hyper active extended family which has a gamut of people from different age groups and most importantly everyone is ready for a party, a get together 24x7. Special mention to the one and only Mr. X, with whom I have not only planned visits to the exotic pubs in Indore (Refer ‘The Boozer’s Diary’ for Mr. X) but a lot more.

And all the fun I am going to have with my dost log is something that has always been unprecedented and this time too……will be the same.

Mai aa raha hu MAA

Shaken and Awaken

After 3 busy and hectic weeks, I finally have some time to breathe and come up with another post. But so much has happened in the last 3 weeks that now I am all confused about what to write. I know that a lot has already been written about the Mumbai attacks but I am left with no choice.

Until 26th November 2008, India had more or less seen a typical pattern of terror attacks throughout the country. Bombs placed in bikes and then remotely detonated. But seeing gangs of armed Jihadis with grenades, Ak47s taking the police head on, killing off the senior officials, breaching two of India’s flagship hotels (one being a World Heritage), causing carnage at one of the biggest train station of the country and taking hostages is something that was totally new for us. It could have been accomplished only through an unprecedented level of planning, coordination and training complemented and most importantly a certain level of confidence in their ability to be successful.

Usually an attack of such a magnitude in India is usually given about 30 seconds of TV time on channels like CNN and BBC. But this time, our Jihadi friends have explicitly targeted “Western” people thus signaling their intention to be “heard” at the top of the hour. And so this time, the US stations were full of it leading with a headline of “Terrorists control Mumbai” which seemed quite apt too. It’s really sad because it reflects the general cluelessness of the West in understanding the geopolitics of the situation. One of my colleagues from Germany when heard about this heinous act did 2 things. First, condemned the terrorist attack and then wondered why Indian government is so adamant on having Kashmir as a part of India. “Why don’t you just give them Kashmir and put an end to all this”. From her point of view, she may be right because she lives in a country which has seen the WORST wars in human history and it is now imbibed in their blood that any war is bad. Unfortunately what she doesn’t know is that the terrorist attacks in India are rarely related to Kashmir any more as was admitted by the lone surviving terrorist himself.

Anyway, coming back to India, I must say that I have never ever seen such a sorry state of politicians in our country. (May be HD Devegowda, ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ qualifies here). A highly uninspiring Prime Minister, a pathetic President and I am not even bothering to discuss the others. When I heard the statements made by many such high profile politicos, I was nothing but embarrassed. Also, seeing the politicians resign after the event is not something that attracts my attention. Say one day, I go and kill my company’s CEO and the next day say “I take moral responsibility for my actions hence from tomorrow, I will no longer work in the company”. This is pretty much what has happened here. Though not directly involved, I feel that the government and political apathy towards previous such incidents virtually makes them as big a terrorist as any other.

One other visual which startled me was that during the early hours of encounter the police personnel were trying to confront the terrorists with 303 rifles (For those who are not aware, 303 rifle was developed in England in 1880!) Another embarrassment! I sincerely hope that the Indian government thinks about it and provides our armed forces, the police included with some respectable arms.

Some visuals and statements that really moved me during the ordeal came from some of the NSG commandos. What I felt on seeing the commandos coming out of the Taj, after a 60 hour long ordeal and boarding a BEST bus (Government cannot even provide them a personal vehicle) is something I cannot describe in words. Tired bodies, unshaved faces and smiling while eating biscuits from a pack handed over by a reporter. Goosebumpy! Some statements: “Hamaare liye kuch mushkil nahi hai ji”, “Array sir, ye smile hi to hai jo kuch bhi hai. Aisi problem to aati rehti hai, morale down nahi hona chahiye bas”. Really simple words, great thoughts.

Finally, the only positive thing I saw coming out of this, is the way our country has responded. Never have I seen the entire country in one voice. Unfortunately it happens only at the times of such national crisis and is short lived. I just hope that not only this feeling continues, but we create a safe atmosphere for us and everyone else around.

Proud to be an Indian!