Victory to All

The past week's incidents in Mumbai have left me ever more livid – at all parties involved (but the victims) – the terrorists, our politicians, and in part, our security forces. I'm going to say things in this blog which are highly politically incorrect, but I have to say my piece.

The Terrorists: I'm pissed that a bunch of terrorists have the audacity to enter our great country and hold us at ransom. It really doesn't take India a whole lot to destroy anything that remotely suggests itself to be a training camp in the mountains. But it is out of sheer respect for diplomacy and for the avoidance of "collateral damage" (remember the words of Madeleine Albright) that we haven't sent in our armed forces. Just what is accomplished by such an act of violence I do not know. Gaining attention? Do they want any more attention after 2 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? What is it exactly that they want? The release of all their friends in Jail so they could go ahead and plan more such attacks? Redefining of all international borders from the Middle East to South Asia? Now – it is clear that this is not going to happen. And even if it did happen, it would be too much for them to handle. Revenge? What exactly does revenge mean, and what does it give? I'm flabbergasted. Even if I tried to understand the motivations, I can't. Well, whatever they wanted to achieve – it does seem that they achieved. They killed people, created fear, gained attention, proved that they were capable of beating us hands down in urban combat. They won.

Our politicians: The less said the better. All too eager to point fingers at everyone but themselves. Right now, the Congress party has definitely won – thanks to Soniaji's decisive action of firing the Home Minister Shivraj Patil. If they can fire Vilasrao Deshmukh (oh, not for failing to secure the state, but for showing up at the Taj Mahal Hotel with Ram Gopal Varma the filmmaker), they would have double victory for having acted even more decisively. The BJP on the other hand must be counting its lucky stars – for such a beautiful opportunity having landed right on their laps a few months ahead of the General Elections. They clearly won, because the country was far safer under them. Sure, setting off an atom bomb in the desert certainly made our country much safer. Well, let's see what they come up with when they win this next election.

Mumbai police: Our thanedaars and hawaldaars have become martyrs for their incomp… ahem – lack of training. All the way up to the Head of the Anti-Terrorism Squad became sitting ducks in their very own police vans, for the terrorists to just kill and hijack. They could have learned more from watching a couple of Hollywood movies for crying out loud. Have you guys seen Die Hard? But for now – they have won through martyrdom.

Our "Elite" National Security Guard: They definitely won the battle for us – they were the heroes of the hour(s). NDTV aired a one hour special thanking them for having ended the hostage situation. Sure. But what took them 10 hours to reach Mumbai? Last I remembered, I could buy a ticket online, drive over to the New Delhi Airport, navigate the "security" lines, get onto a Jet Airways flight, land in Mumbai, and take a taxi to arrive Colaba in less than 6 hours. I thought the Government gave these guys their own aircraft or something. Having arrived, it still took 60-odd hours to clear up the mess… only to find out that more terrorists were hidden in the Taj Mahal Hotel. To me, it was only an eventuality that they would finish off the 10 or so terrorists. They would have run out of bullets eventually, you see? I wish more of them had been caught alive so that evidence could be squeezed out of them. But oh no – I'm going to get into so much trouble for saying something bad about the NSG commandos who saved the day. I think as individuals they were all great soldiers, and have done a fantastic service to our nation. As an organization, NSG hasn't impressed me. But for now, they won the battle too.

So you see – everyone won. Who lost? The real martyrs – the fatalistic denizens of our country – both citizens and visitors, who go about their lives, walking around in the open, knowing all too well that human life is too cheap for our "leaders" to count, but valuable only as political currency. All that the politicians care about are our left index fingers – so they could be marked with the indelible ink of our vibrant democracy once every five years.

American Lie

It has been 8 months since I left the US to study in India. I'm back for a month this November – a month which I thought would be a test of my own temptation to resettle back in the US. It's been an interesting month - with Obama getting elected, Bombay burning down, and the American Retailer almost having a heart attack in anticipation of their beloved consumer's behavior.

But what I'd like to talk about is my exchange with a true blue (white) American from the midwest, who was a friend of a friend, and who was also a self-proclaimed Republican. This person had recently been to India, and practically ran back to the US almost as if she was running away from a Warzone. She had an earful for me about how crazy, crowded and uncontrolled India was, and how they are so bad about maintaining their parks and public places. In the conversation that ensued, I understood, for the first time in 9 years, the Lie that the "heartland" of America lives under. The best way to communicate my frustration is to give some nuggets of my conversation:

• Me: "Did you know that India has 1.2bn people, which is 4x the US population of 300mn, and India has one third the area of the US?"
  
  • Answer: "The US has 300mn people? I didn't know that"
    
  • OK – now – where do I start with someone who doesn't understand that different countries have different population densities
    
• She: "I saw how crazy the Indian drivers were. Now I understand why all the cabbies in NY City drive like crazies – they are all from some third world country, and this is how they drive there"
  
  • OK – all cabbies anywhere in the world drive like they own the road.
    
  • Most of these cabbies learned to drive after coming here… not back in Somalia or India.
    
• She: "I just went the museum in xxx town (in the US). They had excellent funding and resources for kinds activities … which neither the Museum of Natural History in NYC didn't have. I think it is because xxx town has a large black population – the government gives them additional funding"
  
  • This comment ticked me off so much that I could only walk away from there.
    

I've heard of Americans living a Lie earlier, but having this conversion in person shocked me about the level of racial stereotyping that is prevalent in the Heartland of the US.