A Tribute to Mumbai....

Mumbai Meri Jaan

Nishikant Kamat released this movie on 22nd August, wanting to showcase the ghastly terror attacks on the veins of mumbai- the suburban train systems. Little did he know that just within 3 months, the whole world will come to a standstill, witnessing an audacious attempt by terrorists (BBC's Gunmen) to terrorize one more symbol of mumbai - The Taj Mahal Hotel & Palace.

Attacks on places witnessing frequent foreign visits,like cafe leopold, taj mahal hotel, the trident & nariman house elaborating the fact that terrorism has no religion and the whole world is under scanner. What amazes me is the audacity of the attacks. A Bunch of 20 somethings hijack a boat, land at the gateway of india, fire AK 56's as if they have been practicing it since they were in their diapers & putting a whole country to ransom for 62 hours straight.Phew.. Guts hai... But was our intelligence sleeping...

Media..hmm..This was a time when we saw the best and the worst faces of the media. Best, cuz, After 9/11 this by far the best news broadcast on air. Worst cuz, how insensitive can media get, giving away positions of sharpshooters & interviews of senior NSG personnel on TV. Its not about who is giving the best broadcast, its about whos giving the most sensible broadcast.Period. And unfortunately the repeated cribbin of a lead newscaster on a news channel saying "i can't believe the people at the taj, we have been providing news to the people, and they want to black us out " lead to us thinking and knowing, ohk finally we now know which channels never to watch. Amen !

This article was to be about a tribute to mumbai..but i had to express my displeasure and anger at the terrorists & certain sections of media..

Mumbai, the city i was born in.. Colaba, the place i grew up. Leopold, the place of my first date. I am the normal mumbai citizen. I am not a marathi, i am not a north indian, i am not a south indian, I am just a mumbaiite. I am hurt by what has happened. But i have seen it a lot of times. I have seen it in 1993 blasts, i have seen it in 92 riots, i have seen it in 2007 train blasts. I have seen, i have gone through it, and i have gotten over it. The way rest of mumbai has shared my angst is admirable, this makes me live in mumbai forever. It is the land of dreams and it forever will be. Maybe this time we have been hit hard, maybe this time we will take time to come up, but we will come up again. You will have to realize that u cannot shake our faith. So terrorists take a hike. Politicians, Noone even gives a damn about ur regional speeches. So please, don't even try to poison the minds of a few of those who do.

"Mumbai Meri Jaan", "Salaam Bombay", "Yeh hai bambai nagariya tu dekh babua", "Yeh hai Aamchi Mumbai" etc is a part of mumbai folklore. The spirit of mumbai can be solemn, but it will never die. I salute you mumbai, i salute you indians in mumbai, i salute those who lost their lives in all the terror attacks the nation till now, I salute those who fearlessly fight for our safety. In the end , a song that epitomizes the mumbai spirit..Heres to all my fellow mumbaiites...

Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan
Zara hat ke zara bach ke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan
Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan
Yeh Hai Bombay, Yeh Hai Bombay, Yeh Hai Bombay meri jaan