The recent blasts at Mumbai has left me disturbed and dismayed. Apart from the damage and the rising death counts being flashed in the news channels, one question is continuously haunting my mind… What is the outcome of this brutality?
Barkha Dutt, the Group Editor of NDTV has been constantly discussing about what Taj Mahal Hotel means to the citizens who are born and brought up in Mumbai. But if you ask me, who have just settled in the city merely 5 years back, Taj means a symbol of identity to me. In fact, I remember the first time, when I went for a press conference to the hotel; I literally called up my family back at Kolkata boasting of the grandeur and awesome décor, which symbolizes a blend of tradition and modernism.
Even after my first visit, every time I have been to the heritage hotel of Taj, I experienced the same pride to be able to let into such a magnificent and luscious structure as that. But it is very sad that it has become a charred relic now and I honestly doubt whether Ratan Tata (as he promised publicly to restore the beauty of Taj) would be able to restore the archaic beauty of the hotel.
The last television footage revealed that as per the interrogation of one terrorist who have been caught, the entire plan was to blow up Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi-Trident and JW Marriot- a plot similar to blowing up JW Marriot at Pakistan. They actually wanted to create a situation similar like demolishing New York’s World Trade Center. Listening to plans like this, it gives me an immense curiosity at times to probe into the psyche of the master minds who intend to destroy all possible man made grandeur in this soil.
Forget about the master minds… I doubt what psychic capsule must be fed to the front operators, who are merely out of their teens and are responsible for such a devastating mayhem! Is it Jihad or family hostages or channelizing the inherent rage into something massively destructive? Whatever may the modus operandi of converting a youth’s brain to some averted direction, one thing is clear as the analysts have already quoted… the youth involved were highly motivated to destroy and undergo self destruction.
The NSG commandoes have recovered dry fruits and energy tablets other than arms and ammunition, which could let go the terrorists for several days with same level of energy. But here I somehow feel that more than the external aids, it is their minds which has been nourished since years to withstand and fight back in a situation like this. It is their amazing focus to destroy, which makes them battle against all odds. I simply wonder if such determination and dedication was put in a right direction, what wonders and benefits would they have brought in for mankind.
Now coming to the impact this attack has left to the minds of common men… Along with the victims, whose loss and suffering cannot be matched in any terms, it seems that entire nation has been shaken. Along with my own family, all my acquaintances had only news channels being played daily in their residences for almost 18-20 hours during these days. This time, even the kids did not threw tantrums to watch their favorite cartoon programs.
Here I would also like to appreciate the journalists, who appeared fresh even after covering the event continuously for over 55 hours. Some of them even risked their lives to bring in the latest footage from the disturbed areas. In some instances some politicians tried to make into the TV screens by visiting the venue and pelting stones at the opposition parties, yet I applaud the sensibility of the news channels who acted as per the situation and did not give them much room.
To conclude, we can only pray that the situation comes back to the control very soon. We can further hope that our Intelligence agency breaks the leftover links of the 26th November’s terror plan so that no further chain of damages is caused to the city.
Barkha Dutt, the Group Editor of NDTV has been constantly discussing about what Taj Mahal Hotel means to the citizens who are born and brought up in Mumbai. But if you ask me, who have just settled in the city merely 5 years back, Taj means a symbol of identity to me. In fact, I remember the first time, when I went for a press conference to the hotel; I literally called up my family back at Kolkata boasting of the grandeur and awesome décor, which symbolizes a blend of tradition and modernism.
Even after my first visit, every time I have been to the heritage hotel of Taj, I experienced the same pride to be able to let into such a magnificent and luscious structure as that. But it is very sad that it has become a charred relic now and I honestly doubt whether Ratan Tata (as he promised publicly to restore the beauty of Taj) would be able to restore the archaic beauty of the hotel.
The last television footage revealed that as per the interrogation of one terrorist who have been caught, the entire plan was to blow up Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi-Trident and JW Marriot- a plot similar to blowing up JW Marriot at Pakistan. They actually wanted to create a situation similar like demolishing New York’s World Trade Center. Listening to plans like this, it gives me an immense curiosity at times to probe into the psyche of the master minds who intend to destroy all possible man made grandeur in this soil.
Forget about the master minds… I doubt what psychic capsule must be fed to the front operators, who are merely out of their teens and are responsible for such a devastating mayhem! Is it Jihad or family hostages or channelizing the inherent rage into something massively destructive? Whatever may the modus operandi of converting a youth’s brain to some averted direction, one thing is clear as the analysts have already quoted… the youth involved were highly motivated to destroy and undergo self destruction.
The NSG commandoes have recovered dry fruits and energy tablets other than arms and ammunition, which could let go the terrorists for several days with same level of energy. But here I somehow feel that more than the external aids, it is their minds which has been nourished since years to withstand and fight back in a situation like this. It is their amazing focus to destroy, which makes them battle against all odds. I simply wonder if such determination and dedication was put in a right direction, what wonders and benefits would they have brought in for mankind.
Now coming to the impact this attack has left to the minds of common men… Along with the victims, whose loss and suffering cannot be matched in any terms, it seems that entire nation has been shaken. Along with my own family, all my acquaintances had only news channels being played daily in their residences for almost 18-20 hours during these days. This time, even the kids did not threw tantrums to watch their favorite cartoon programs.
Here I would also like to appreciate the journalists, who appeared fresh even after covering the event continuously for over 55 hours. Some of them even risked their lives to bring in the latest footage from the disturbed areas. In some instances some politicians tried to make into the TV screens by visiting the venue and pelting stones at the opposition parties, yet I applaud the sensibility of the news channels who acted as per the situation and did not give them much room.
To conclude, we can only pray that the situation comes back to the control very soon. We can further hope that our Intelligence agency breaks the leftover links of the 26th November’s terror plan so that no further chain of damages is caused to the city.
