Chp 213. Mumbai Burning

Technology sure has changed the way we communicate.

We no longer rely on the cranky AIR radio or the sometimes biased Television News network as our source of information. First there was the mobile phone, where smsing bridged the divide among many people.

Now there is twitter.

With the vast number of people twitting simultaneously about the latest Mumbai news, TV channels have definitely taken a back seat.

101 dead so far according to CNN-IBN. Utterly horrifying!

As for me, I stayed in office last night. Unlike other nights when we sometimes stay over in office the whole night due to project deadlines, last night was different. I stayed back because I didn’t want to take any chances. It was a completely different feeling.

Even at 5 in the morning I was still wide awake in office, watching the LIVE twitter updates and also the LIVE news streaming by CNN-IBN, while taking part in various discussion forums and battling the millions of mosquitoes biting me at the same time.

5 in the morning I could still see a lot of lights in the apartments around our office. Everybody’s glued to the TV. Seriously, who could sleep?

When we first heard the news around 10-11 pm last night, the news was "Two rival gang members shot at each other, no casualties" and we just shrugged it off. Oh how wrong that information turned out to be!!!

I called up the student and welfare leaders of our Mizo Association this morning and fortunately there were no Mizos among the victims.

Watching the death of so many innocent victims and top cops and encounter specialists really makes my blood boil. I can’t even find words venomous enough from my limited vocabulary to describe how I feel about those damn terrorists.

But if you really think about it, that’s exactly what these terrorists want. Put in fear and suspicion among the citizens.

I’m definitely staying in office for the rest of the day, until I get the green light. Kedar and the others are watching "Hotel Rwanda". Quite ironic. But I think that’s the mood all of us are in right now. I’ll go join them as soon as I publish this post.

Had Maggie for Brunch. Quite filling, although there is a strange emptiness and uneasiness in my stomach which is not due to hunger.

Speaking of lunch, my dabba didn’t come of course. Who cares. 6 Sigma status can hang. It’s the last thing on anyone’s mind. Likewise I went out to smoke a couple of hours ago. The street was deserted. I smoked at a place which was the safest place around my office. Health Minister Ramadoss’ diktat was the last thing on my mind.

Saw a couple of Army trucks patrolling last night. Reassuring, in a very melancholic way. Today there were a couple of helicopters hovering around the city. My colleague said the tension is worse than what he experienced during the communal riots of 92-93.

In the midst of all these, news are flashing of the terrorists managing to hijack two police vans and the police warning every Mumbaikar to stay away from the roads! Things are getting scarier and scarier.

More updates may come later.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. A few years ago I would be itching to reach such destinations and witness the incidents with my own eyes. When Bangalore burnt, I was there walking amidst the burning tyres blogging about it. Now I am holed up as safely as I could be, not willing to take any risk. Could it be old age?



Let’s remember all those who died in our prayers.