Shama Mehta

It is another evening. We’re about to finish dinner when we turn on the t.v to watch the news. And then, it strikes. It’s been a year since the bomb blasts in Mumbai.

It was 8 in the morning and I was getting ready for attending lectures. It was not just another summer day for me. I was getting used to a new lifestyle and it was not easy to wake up on time on my own. Either way, before I left for university I got a call from Maa and she told me there were blasts in local trains in Mumbai. My initial reaction was how on earth could it happen? Trying to make sense of wht was going on, I turned on CNN and here I could see live pictures/videos of the tragedy. I was shattered. I was numb. Then followed atleast 50 phone calls to Mumbai, trying to check on every single person I could think of. Nearly all of my family and friends live in Mumbai. And 90 percent of them take the local train. The worse kind of thoughts came to my mind. On one hand I was playing reporter to my Maa as they had no access to television while watching the live videos and making phone calls. So many stories came out of it all. But then, in a couple of days everything went back to normal in Mumbai. People started travelling in trains again as if nothing like this happened.

Seven blasts?!?! I mean are you kidding me?? How on earth can one not be angered by this incident? Especially for people like me who were sick worried for their loved ones. I know I am not the only one to be affected. I am sure there are thousands of people who are affected by this tragedy.

How could I forget this day? Could I ever forget this? Then again, should I ever forget this day?? I am not the type to hold grudges. I am not the type to pursue violence. But how can I not get angry with what happened?? And it has been going on for such a long time now. I cannot seem to remember how life was like without terror. This world seems to be ruled by fear. And we all know thats not how life should be like.

When will there be an end to all this?

I yearn for peace. I yearn for unity. I yearn for love. I yearn for humanity.

For now, it’s this song from Pukar that is very precise in what I am feeling…

Aa jaa ke sab milke rab se dua maange
Jeevan mein sukoon chaahe, chaahat mein vafa maange
Haalaat badalne main ab der na ho maalik
Jo de chuke phir yeh andher na ho maalik

Ek tu hi bharosa, ek tu hi sahaara
Is tere jahan mein nahin koi hamaara
Eeshwar ya allah, yeh pukaar sun le
Eeshwar ya allah hai daata
Humse na dekha jaaye barbaadiyon ka sama
Ujdi hui basti mein yeh tadap rahe insaan

Eeshwar ya allah, yeh pukaar sun le
Eeshwar ya allah hai daata
Naadaan hain hum to maalik, kyoon di hamein yeh saza
Yahan hai sabhi ke dil mein nafrat ka zaher bhara

Naadaan hain hum to maalik, kyoon di hamein yeh saza
Yahan hai sabhi ke dil mein nafrat ka zaher bhara

Inhe phir se yaad dila de sabak vohi pyaar ka
Ban jaaye gulshan phir se kaanton bhari duniya
Ek tu hi bharosa, ek tu hi sahaara
Is tere jahan mein nahin koi hamaara
Eeshwar ya allah, yeh pukaar sun le
Eeshwar ya allah hai daata

Meri pukaar sun le, meri pukaar sun le, meri pukaar sun le

Nonviolence doesn’t always work – but violence never does. ~Madge Micheels-Cyrus