Some events act as clear dividing lines in our lives, almost like the markers BC and AD. The terrorist attack on Bombay on 26th November, has become one of those. You think of life "before 26/11 and you think in terms of life after 26/11. It's changed, not only for those who survived the violence at CST or at the Taj or the Oberoi hotels. And not only for the number of people who lost their friends and relatives in the attack. Life somehow seems different for a whole lot of us living in the vicinity of these places, or those of us who belong to the middle or upper classes who were mainly the target of this revengeful act. It has made us sit up and think in a way that never happened before.
The upside of it is that many individuals are all set to seriously examine what is wrong with society, and with the world we live in. Unfortunately far too many people are engaged in pointing fingers and unwilling to be part of a half way sane dialogue. A piece I recently wrote for Desicritics elicited a barrage of responses mainly from people who dont seem to want to look further than their nose. It depresses you to read them because you see how few people among the educated classes are even half way willing to own up to the fact that if the world is in a mess today it is because we too have contributed to it in our own way by agreeing to be part of a system which is destructive and self defeating.
Those who want to do more than complain and are ready to contribute their time and energy to a long term project to further environmental awareness which also involves awareness of the self) please get in touch. Some of us at Basicindia are organizing a series of sessions for friends and generally anyone interested, to voice their thoughts and feelings and come up with peaceful solutions to the current state of fear, anger and confusion which has gripped the city in recent times.
