Mumbai, my city, was rocked some 48 hours back. Ironically, I got glued to the TV only almost 2 days after catastrophe hit Mumbai and strangely it was also the first time I wasn't around in Mumbai...The blasts serial in 1991, the communal tension and the human massacre following the Babri Masjid demolition, the rains that wreaked havoc in July'2005, the local train serial blasts in 2006..I saw them all & with passage of time had varying reactions to each of them. There was one thing common though each time, and I am sure will be this time around too Mumbai stands back on its feet fast, probably faster than any city in the world..and life goes on..

......So this one, surely my last post, is for you, my beloved city and also for the die-hard NSG commandos, who are bringing Mumbai back to life. I salute you both Salaam Mumbai, Jai Hind.

28.11.2008, 8:00 P.M. Coming back from work, I was at the laundry, to collect clothes, I had given two days back for ironing. The ironing boy, a UPite joked, "Pehli baar aap late ho gaye kapde lene mein. Mujhe laga kahin Taj mein toh nahi fas gaye, do din ho gaye hain..." . I heard him laughing as the shop owner wrapped the ironed clothes in paper and collected money from me. I smiled wearily - I'd been working till 3:30 A.M. on the 27th and then up again early morning for company's 2009 target presentations, which got over at 11:30 P.M. Feverish today morning, I still mustered strength for some very urgent issues at work. When the economy lies low and the chips are down, routine too, seems so fast paced. There's suddenly so much to do.

Home, I spoke to my parents, who live in Mumbai and are on a vacation now. Ma was shocked about Mumbai and advised me to take care. The TV channels beamed in bulletin after bulletin about the Terror that swarmed South Mumbai and the scroller at the bottom of the screen read Encounter on at Taj for 48 hours, P.M. Mr. Singh asking for the ISI chief to be in India and much more

The TOI mentioned that the terrorists were from the Lashkar, Pakistan. High Voltage diplomacy should follow, what with the world leaders condemning the Fidayeen act, I thought.

There were definite positives too. It was very heartening to see the NSG commandos and their commitment. I have been inspired by many a human feat in different fields; this NSG effort must surely must be amongst the top ones in my list.

My tired mind, was suddenly a bee hive of activity

Was it the National policy of Restraint that bogged our spirits always. Historically, Indians, only fought valiantly from within our side of the borders (except one invasion into Pakistan when the troops were ordered back as soon as they got in) took bullets, fell and stood back. Never became the aggressors, never crossed the LOCs or crushed the forces of terrorism. Wasn't it time, I thought, the National Policy was re-envisaged and that it treaded off the beaten track, became fearless and gave some free hand to the military.

Wasn't it high time India stormed the terror camps, and wiped out the disease completely. There would then be no need for immunity. Can't we follow the 'Israel way', for once? When you are righteous and fearless, the world also joins you.

If we however decide to continue wearing the 'restraint coat', can't we at least have a better immunity system in place? At least the NSG and other such agencies be deployed across centres in the country which are more susceptible to terror attacks. The response time would be much less, reducing the scale of devastation.

Couldn't the national security and intelligence systems be beefed up in every respect to have advance alerts and avert a situation before hell runs loose on the streets, buildings and Public places?

As the thoughts kept pouring in and I sought the merits and demerits in each of them, a rail ticket caught my attention..

22.11.2008 The Thalys began an hour late at Brussels, where temperatures were the lowest I must have experienced in my lifetime. It was snowing all afternoon. Atul, my senior, who now works at our company's office in Germany and who was with me at the capital of the EU, had that day warned, "from Gare Du Nord, Paris (The central railway station), take a Taxi to your hotel, 'The Ibis' at Cambronne near the Eiffel only if there was enough day light, but if its got dark, prefer the tube. It will be safer. And yes, you won't find signs in English at Nord, so take enough care. These guys don't speak English"

It was 5:00 P.M. as the I disembarked the train and the sun was hiding into the horizon. Atul's words never failed me in the past. Gare Du Nord, indeed did not have any English written anywhere. I rued never studying any foreign language, French was on offer and I had chosen to continue with Hindi as my second language at Junior college.

So it had to be the tube. And I had another important thing to do. Call up Nadia and find if she could join me at the Eiffel. I had called her, when we were in Brussels and she asked me to call back in the evening. As fate would have, my cell phone did not get connected to the local networks. So here I was, in a modern high tech city, yet disconnected. Struggling and getting no where, I went back to the Thalys help desk. All I got was a map of the Tube network.

Every minute lost meant that much less time at the Eiffel tower. I was looking around for help, but no one spoke English. The Gods must have been watching my desperation. So they sent this guy in my direction, very much Indian looking or maybe a Pakistani, who cared. I waved at him and said 'Hello'

He halted and replied 'Hello' and then asked 'Aap India ke hain?'

'Ji'. My joy knew no bounds, banda Hindi bol raha hai.

'Paris pehli baar aaye hain?', was his next question.

'Haan ji'. As I answered, I was being cautious too. I had a strolley, my passport, the return tickets and the Euros.

'Aapko Metro pakadni hai?'

'Ji, mujhe Cambronne jana hai. Mera hotel uske paas hai, aapko pata hai, ticket kahan milega?' I asked.

He led the way to a counter. The security guard told we were at the wrong place. So to another one. As we walked, I asked ' Aap bhi India ke Hain?'

'Nahin, main Pakistan ka hoon, main bhi 4 hafte pehle hi yahan aaya hoon. Iske pehle main Italy mein kaam karta tha'. I could figure out why we went to a wrong ticket counter the first time. He worked as a painter and he told me his name - Junaid.

I struck instant camaraderie with this bloke. Junaid took me to the ticket counter. I showed the lady behind it, the address of my hotel and asked her the route to Cambronne. She took a map of the tube (which I already had), marked where Gare Du Nord was and then the trains I had to take to reach to Cambronne. I had to change the tube once. I purchased the ticket. Job number 1 over.

Now to call Nadia my friend at our HQs in France. She had become a good pal during the seminar I attended earlier in the week.

Junaid was with me and was guiding me to the platform where I could get the train. I couldn't have felt better and comfortable and thanked him all the way. Then I asked Junaid about how I could call my friend, as all the public booths operated with some kind of a call card. I showed him, my cell phone that ran out of networks.

'Samajh gaya bhai jaan' he said and took me to a telebooth, inserted a card into the telephone and asked me to dial the number. I didn't understand the card technology and feared 'what if Nadia's number gets booked on to it?', but took the risk. Nadia took about 10 seconds to register that it was I.She was somewhere in Paris city and agreed on reaching my hotel by 7:30 P.M. She probably wanted to say more, but in about 2 minutes the line disconnected. Job 2 done.

I asked Junaid what was the call charge for two minutes, so that I could give him the money. 'Shukriya' he said. I was surprised at his magnanimity, because Shukriya was what I was supposed to say. Junaid had by now spent 15 minutes with me.

'Junaid, agar aap nahin hote, toh mujhe bahut takleefein jhelni padti, mujhe samajh nahin aa raha hai ki aapka shukriyua kaise ada karoon' I thankfully said.

'Bhaijaan, YAHAN agar ham ek doosre ke kaam nahin aayenge toh fir kya matlab'

My eyes were moist. I had seen this kind of Indo-Pak friendship only on soaps back home, I was living it now.

He guided me to the platform from where I could take train no. 4, which of course I had to change soon after 3 stations, to catch another to reach Cambronne. We hugged, I said Shukriya to Junaid once more, he acknowledged with a warm smile and disappeared into the crowd.

Today as these vivid images flashed across my mind, my mind was again a battlefield, a new set of thoughts

1. Why, when we can be like Brothers in arms in alien nations, we fight across the borders, spread hatred and cause destruction? Why do we here seek refuge in arming our selves against one another?
   
2. Why can't we all be 'Bhai-jaans', be true brothers and live in harmony here too and not just when we had an identity crisis else where, away from our homes.
   
3. Isn't this the easier way to get rid of the many ills and evils, both of our rather poor economies are suffering from?
   
4. Couldn't we kill terrorism if there was no hatred and we lived like one?
   
5. Weren't we one and don't we boast belonging to same great Indus Valley Civilisation?

The firing at the Taj was still ON. I just surfed between channels to break monotony. On MTV, they were playing John Lennon's song 'Imagine', from some live concert..

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace ...

You, you may say I am a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world ... Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace ...

Oh...so relevant and how I wish..

I am leaving the i-land after almost 4 months of coming here. There wasn't enough feedback coming in, which made me directionless,akin to running around like a headless chicken.

I felt I wasn't adding any value or contributing much to the commune or to myself - thats the time one should quit and not remain a baggage.

Good luck and best wishes to all.

Manish