The Spirit of Mumbai???

  July 13, 2011 was another day when I felt horrible    about being thousands of miles away from my family and Mumbai. The serial blasts brought back to my mind the gory reality that we all are just mortals. I am stupefied with the fact that "some mortals" kill innocent lives under the name of God and religion. Mumbai - the city of dreams, my life and my love is no more a safe haven like what it used to be. Every 2-3 years my city is targeted and the sheer hopelessness which causes a common man to move on is further lambasted under the adage "the spirit of Mumbai". NO! This isn't the spirit of Mumbai.. it is the "survival of the fittest" belief that pushes a Mumbaiite to go to work immediately the next day after such terrorizing happenings and earn a living for his/her family.

Coming to the Indian government and politics, I think I should rephrase second statement in this blog as "we all are not just mortals but puppets" for ridiculous and lame politicians (and of course the terrorists). I was appalled by the remarks of a young politician who supposedly is the next in candidacy to the PM's seat! So he claims that the government wards off 99% of the terrorism and it the 1% that we have to deal with. Really??? 2005 blasts, 2006 blasts, 2008 attacks, 2011 blasts are all just 1 % for you Mr. Rahul Gandhi?
Home Minister, P. Chidambaram says that there was no Intelligence failure! Wow...some criminal minds plant bombs in some of the most crowded streets of Mumbai and the Home Minister doesn't feel that intelligence and security is horrendously amiss??On the other hand, Digvijay Singh’s statement shows that his indifference and non-concern in statements like "India’s situation is much better than Pakistan where blasts keep happening every week". Are they waiting for a situation where a blast takes place every week?
To add more salt to the wounds of the common man and the victims, some eminent personalities from the film industry party hard over a movie-release just 3 days after the blast. On one end, Shahrukh Khan (on Twitter) condemns the blasts and shows the urge to come back to Mumbai from his holidays and on the other end he throws a grand party and is joined by other hopelessly shameless film personalities!!All these rich people are such hypocrites!I am hurt, saddened, troubled, disgusted, appalled, scared, frustrated and what not! A myriad of emotions to deal with and I know that there is no respite. I am not being cynical but my helplessness and disbelief in the current government of India makes me
say this!

Inspiration for Aspirations

I came across a lot of eye-opening stuff today and that triggered me to get back to my blog. So for starters, I was reading news on an Indian news website and I read some article about Lisa Ray. So i dug up a few more articles and realized that she is an avid blogger. Her blog named "Yellow Diaries" is basically elucidates her journey, her mind-boggling journey through the dark depths of Myeloma (Bone Marrow Cancer). I was spellbound at the courage and optimism she portrayed during all those trying moments.

I also read about Oscar Pistorius and his story is equally inspiring. The sobriquet "the fastest man with no legs" describes Oscar's unflagging spirit to conquer the Olympic championship in running.

All such stories make me melancholic for a moment but they also leave me with the zest to live life to the fullest. I must admit that the year 2011 has been one such year of conquering my fears and living my life to the fullest. To end this post, I would encourage you to find happiness in every walk of life and have the courage to face the darkness. A childhood poem which taught me how to find happiness in the smallest of things in life comes to mind right now, sharing it here:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

- Daffodils by Williams Wordsworth