Hope Amidst Ruins

In the rubble of the hundreds of lives lost and maimed, of the iconic buildings burnt, of the incompetence of the processes and institutions we trusted, however cynically, there's hope. And that's the cliché of Nov 2008.

Smruti Koppikar

Updated on: 1 December 2008 12:00 am

Hope Amidst Ruins

From my diary.
Nov 29, 2008:

I did not lose any family or friends in the horrific attacks, yet I have lost.

I feel violated, hurt and very angry.

But I am not alone.

Who amongst us does not feel violated and hurt and angry?

Who amongst us has been able to douse our rage of the last few days?

Who amongst us can forget the 60-hour-long attack, the flames, the bodies, the grief of relatives and friends?

Who amongst us has not come out of our de-sensitised shell, transfixed by the sheer enormity of the tragedy and the utter incompetence of people we trusted our lives with?

Who amongst us has not shed a tear?

Who amongst us today believes that we will return home in one piece every night after work or after dinner?

Who amongst us is not praying, or at least hoping, that there will be a difference?

And, who amongst us is not willing to go out and do something, anything, that will make that difference possible?

There is so much outrage, so much anger, so much disgust amongst people like you and me, I am surprised there haven't been reactive incidents.

On Friday night, 48 hours to the attack and still counting, I was prepared to hear that someone like us had lobbed a home-made grenade at the chief minister's bungalow, or that of some politician who took an oath of office, on the Constitution of India, to protect her people.

Or that someone who professes to be a Hindu, under the garb of being an ultra-nationalist Indian, had gone hunting for his Muslim neighbour whom he equated with Pakistan

Or that there was a growing clamour for an all-out war with Pakistan.

Or that outrage took demonic forms and pitted Indian against Indian.

That none of this has transpired, so far, means that this time we behaved with incredible maturity at a time of great distress.

It means that we see the possibility of directing their anger and passion into something constructive.

There is now no doubt that the glorious and celebrated spiritof Mumbai, an inexplicable mix of commerce and attitude, was not in its soporific dance on Day 1 after an attack, as it has been on every single occasion in the past.

March 1993, Dec 2002, Jan 2003, August 2003, July 2005, July 2006.

And several instances of violence, or the threats of violence, in between.

The spirit of Mumbai was always a cliché that those outside Mumbai chose to describe the no-nonsense attitude and the demands of a commercial system.

Mumbaikars simply put their heads down, subjugated their fears to their roles as cogs in the commerce wheel, and resumed the rhythm of life.

Not because we wanted to, but because we had to, because that was the only way we knew.

No one asked us if we wanted to retreat and nurse our wounds. No one asked how we could be so resilient, or even if we wanted to be resilient.

The resilience, that spirit, dissipated sometime in those 60 hours.

Mumbaikars chose to retreat.

It's a welcome change because people elsewhere will take note, and cease to pretend that nothing major happened.

As an Indian, as a shaken Mumbaikar, as a trying-to-be-dispassionate journalist, I am hoping that constructive change, or changes, will gradually begin to take shape over the next few weeks and months.

It's important that we do not stop being angry or hurt. You or me or anyone else.

And, it's important that we do not dissipate these emotions by fulminating in our drawing rooms and online chat rooms.

Sign all the petitions for peace, light all the candles possible, march in all the demonstrations that will be, hold up placards and banners, but safe-keep the emotions.

These are our strengths now, these are the driving forces, these are the tools to effect the changes we wish to see.

In the rubble of the hundreds of lives lost and maimed, of the iconic buildings burnt, of the incompetence of the processes and institutions we trusted, however cynically, there's hope.

And that's the cliché of Nov 2008. Hope amidst ruins

My hope is that the anger and the hurt will be channelised as they ought to be.

To bring individual losses on a collective platform and demand fundamental changes in the way we are governed.

My confidence, despite everything loaded against it, is that the Idea of India -- the idea of Mumbai -- has taken a physical blow but will not disintegrate or change to suit the designs that our friends or enemies may have.

I remember many lines from many pages but one sticks in the head.

"When you're running down my country, man, you're walking on the fighting side of me"

Friends say fightback is a negative term, but it need not be.

This is indeed a fightback, but it has to be a peaceful, passionate, consistent and constructive one.

Because Mumbai matters.

Because India matters.