The survival instincts

Mumbai city is one of the busiest cities of the world. It is home to almost 20 million people (increasing exponentially every year) and nearly 30,000 people live in every square kilometre which is a breath taking number. So no wonder this city is the focal point of so many terror activities. The idea behind any such activity is to create a fear in the minds of the people and larger the number of minds affected, greater is the impact. And if a person thinks logically, this is the place to target if you want to send out a message and if you want your message to reach out far and wide. Well that brings us to the question of who is really the intended recipient of the messages that such attacks convey.

This is one question that I have never been able to understand completely. Are they (and I am going to use a pronoun throughout my blog and not use any provocative words to keep this least controversial) making a statement to the authoritative powers, the decision-makers of the country or is it directed towards the common man? Well, I don’t think the answer is a straight forward A or B here. Guess a bit of both is what I will settle for. The irony here is how many people who get directly affected by these blasts which are now infamously described as the “Mumbai terror attacks” (with a special wikipedia page being dedicated to each such attack) really know what is it that is happening at the global or country level that drives these operations. Again silence is the answer!

Well enough of trying to understand the larger picture. Let’s try to understand the subtleties here. What do you think goes on in the mind of every Indian citizen who might directly or indirectly get scarred by these happenings? How many families have their relatives working in this city (guess everyone has a friend or a kin working in Mumbai!!) and spend sleepless nights when they have to send their sons and daughters to pursue their career in Mumbai? It is a pain to think of the dilemma that they go through for they do not want to be the parents who act like roadblocks in the journey of a youngster’s dreams. If you ask me (I here represent the scores of people who move to Mumbai everyday because that’s where you have to be if you have to make it big in your life), I am fearless and indifferent to these attacks because that’s what happens in most of the “dream” cities of the world. Does that mean they have to think the same?

If you pity this category of people, then let me show you another set of wounded heroes. These are the people who have stayed in Mumbai all their lives, who cannot live in any other city for nothing compares to the commercial and free lifestyle that this city offers (I completely second them by the way!). These are the people who are referred to as the spirited Mumbaikars who have been through so much in their lifetime (even the younger generation has seen multiple disasters thanks to the periodic intervals in which these occur never letting them get over the last one completely…) that they have learnt it the hard way to be prepared for anything that might happen when they leave their homes in the morning for their livelihood. That is what, exactly, is the most depressing underlying fact!! Humans adapt to everything because they have to survive. And that everything is not just rains and traffic that this city is already so known for. That “everything” now includes even the traumatising experiences that they encounter time and again!

So where is the end to all this? This question is rhetorical. No amount of police can provide an exhaustive security to the 20 million people in this city because the idea itself is so out of imagination. At least, it escapes me how you can have an all-encompassing system to ensure no anti-social elements enter a city in which thousands enter everyday for a career. Mumbai is always going to be on the radar because of its biggest strength-its people- and well, the people know it as well.

Give a shot at making these people understand how dangerous this city is and try suggesting to anyone in this city to move to some other place and start a safer life there. There is hardly a soul you can convince and that’s not just because other places are also subject to the same threats. It’s just because Mumbai has a way to make people fall in love with it and after that it’s a one-side love story. You know you might end up getting hurt any day but then what’s the point in living if you haven’t lived your life to the fullest…. 

To a lifetime friendship...

The universe of “friendship” has different kinds of species in it. There are some friends who are always ready to hang out with you so that you are never alone, you always have someone to celebrate the best of your times with and the broader picture of life looks like a scene from Hollywood with all laughter. There is yet another type who is there at your beck and call and you know that when you are in trouble, that is the number you need to save in your speed dial for that person has a solution to every problem in your mind. And a few more belonging to the group who probably never express what you mean to them but tell you with their smallest of actions and the rarest of smiles that you are safe in this world coz “I am there for you”.

Well, I found a gem who is all of these and much more. Six months ago things were so different in my world. I lived a life where I worked 80 hours a week, slept through the weekends and spent rest of my time in my beloved books and movies. And then on a day for which I thank my stars, I met two of the most influential people in my world till date but this column is just about one of them (the other needs a longer thinking process to fit in my blog and that we will save for some other day). Our friendship has been like a joy ride all along not because it’s just fun that matters in life, but because he has taught me that happiness is what we live for. When you get the privilege to be a part of group to which he belongs, you learn to live life the way it was meant to be… that “seize the day” motto that every third movie talks about and every philosophy class teaches you.

There are so many things to be impressed about in a human but I can’t list any of that in this guy. Not because he has none but because that is an experience only a lucky few are entitled to and I am not certainly going to share that fortune with the readers of this blog. You have to meet him to know what a remarkable person he is and if you haven’t met him, well, that’s your bad luck! Don’t expect any descriptions from me here!! Thanks to him (along with a few others), I have learnt to appreciate so many things around me… What used to be lonely city where I have come just for my job leaving all my close friends behind became “The most adorable place” where I have come to love my freedom with a bunch of people who seem so much like my own.

I am keeping this one short for he knows how much I appreciate him being a part of my life and there is no need to write an essay for that. And if I know him correctly, he would already be welling up when he reaches these lines. It’s his b’day today and I wish him every single happiness in life. I hope (and Know) that this is one of the scores of such days that we are gonna celebrate together. May he get all he wanted in life including a shining career in advertising, a lifetime of happiness and unbridled success, a chance to travel around the world and visit all exotic places, a brilliant Jaguar (or Aston Marin or Mascerati whichever he likes more), and of course a bunch of precious people to enjoy all these with (including me!)… Happy b’day Nyukeit Thakkar and God bless you J

PS: There is only one thing I would like to change about you but my gift will take care of that!!!!