My day to day schedule - Get up at 6 a.m. Get ready for office. Catch the 9.25 a.m. local train from Thane railway station. Reach office by 9.50 a.m. Log into my system. Check mails. Reply to mails. Have breakfast at the canteen at 10.30 a.m. Get back to my desk at 11 a.m. Work for an hour and half. Ping friends for lunch. 1 p.m. go for lunch. 2.30 p.m finish lunch, chatting and a walk. Get back to the desk and again chat on the instant messenger. Do some work for another 2 hours. Go for snacks at 4.30 p.m. Get back to desk by 5.30. p.m. Work for an hour and half. 7 p.m. log out of the system. Catch the 7.30 p.m. local back to Thane station. Reach home by 9 p.m. Cook and eat dinner. Browse through T.V. channels. Sleep by 11 p.m.
The next day carry on the same thing. Except for one little detail changed. This day instead of the 9.25 a.m. local train, I will reach early and catch the 9.15 a.m. train. By the time I reach office and check my inbox for mails, hundereds of people are injured and many are feared dead due to a bomb blast at the Thane railway station. Because today was my lucky day I reached the station a little bit early. Caught an early train. But not everybody is this lucky. And nobody deserves the fate of dying a painful death at the hands of unwanted terrorists. Among those who died was a simple office-goer going to Vikhroli who was expecting a raise in his salary so that he could pay off his housing loan. A woman with two children, going to drop them off at there school in Bhandup. A worker going to Nahur, who was the sole bread winner of his family of 5. Three young college students going to Ghatkopar, who had dreams and hopes of the years to come, of the bright future they had. 4 friends going to VT, who would look forward to each day of meeting each other on one of the train's lady's dabba. All of these people, who had a very normal life, like me. Like clockwork had their schedules set. Who had no idea, that this is it for them.
This was just a fictional story with a fictional premise of a lucky human being whose life was spared because he/she was not at the wrong place at the wrong time. Question: Has our life just changed into a game of chance? That when we leave home for work from now on, we should say "Honey!! See you in the evening, that is if I am alive!!"... Sitting thousands of miles away from friends and family, I was scared to death and worried as hell for the safety of my loved ones. But what about those many people who lost their loved ones? It will be wrong if I said that we don't do enough. Yes we are doing just enough... But in the current situation "enough" is not enough!! When the government chosen by us has failed us, how can we help each other is the main question. We have to be alert, more alert than before, maybe bordering on paranoia. We have to watch each and everyone of us. There are over 20 million people in Mumbai. If we want we can do anything. If we come together we are capable of anything. Even if just a 10 percent of this population decides that this is enough. We cant take it anymore. Nobody will ever be able to touch us. But a tiny issue remains. Who has the time for this? I am busy making a living for myself, taking care of my own family. I don't have time for playing I-spy with terrorism. The truth remains, we are playing I-spy everyday. Not with terrorism, but with death.
So before leaving home for work, calculate... What are my chances for dying today!!?? Either resign to this fate or do something about it. Either keep your eyes, ears and mouth shut and move on or be alert and take steps to be safe. Or just keep playing the game of chances with death. Because you might win today but what about tomorrow?!! We don't have many choices you see.
Last but not the least in the name of the undying spirit of my city, I console myself for those innocent lives lost in this meaningless unwanted war of terrorism. And as I condemn the corrupt bureaucracy of the Government of India and Maharashtra, I salute the people of Mumbai, for enduring yet another blow.
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