My 12 year old’s reaction to the terror attack in Mumbai

Over the past couple of days, my wife and I have been watching the horrifying news unfold on TV. Lavanya, our 12 year old daughter, too watched the news on and off and ever so often asked if the terrorists have been overpowered.  Last night, soon after the tragic news of the hostages at Nariman House being killed was aired, Lavanya shut herself in her room for about 15 minutes. She emerged with a piece of paper and showed it to us. She had written the following poem that I think captures the pathos of the tragedy very well.

The city that never slept, slept

Ashes and shrapnel everyplace

Destruction and death all around.

Mumbai, the city that never slept,

Slept long, deep and sound.

Friends, family and strangers complete,

A picture of devastation.

When the fisrt signs of death

Got hold of a railway station.

Booms, bangs, everywhere,

All it took was a little boat fare.

The Taj and Oberoi weep in sorrow,

Nariman House got lost to the morrow.

Politicians wanted to give their speech,

To show how sorry they are,

To the hostages and commandos

From homes God knows how far!

More lives are lost,

More battles fought.

The war was raging on,

The guns just fire everywhere,

Victory goes to no one.

The terrorists may be killed,

But the void of the lost loved one is never filled.

The roads are empty, there is no sound.

Mumbai, the city that never slept,

Slept long, deep and sound.

An original poem by Lavanya Krishna (12 years), Std VI, Presidency School, R T Nagar, Bangalore.

Bharat Ratna for our commandos and cops?

Every year, a raging debate precedes the decision to award the Bharat Ratna. As I understand, the award should go to someone who is “a jewel of India”. The events of the past 60 hours prove that our armed forces and cops qualify. In spite of the huge odds against them and the various challenges (hostages, risk of collateral damage, heritage sites, inadequate information about the hotel layout, no robust estimate of the number of terrorists etc.) they have demonstrated to the world that “Yes, we can”. I therefore think awarding them the Bharat Ratna would not be unfair. To be sure, technical issues such as it being India’s highest civilian award (and therefore it being inappropriate to award it to the army) remain- but what we should recognize is the commitment of the entire force and not individuals. Clearly, this was a team effort, with local agencies like the City Fire Brigade also playing its part in resolving the crisis.

“War on Mumbai”

TV channel after TV channel continues to refer to the recent terrorist strikes in Mumbai as a “war on Mumbai”. Admittedly, the theatre of the strike was Mumbai; but surely, it is more an attack on India- and in fact, on the entire civilized world.

Another thing I noticed about the intensive coverage was the media asking people how they felt- either after being rescued or to recall their hours inside. What do these journalists expect the answer to be? I realize that they are trying to cover the “emotional” and “human interest” angles but honestly, I wish our media personalities become more sensitive.