Saturday, July 15, 2006

Time moves on, another day, another newspaper story.

The Mumbai bombings happened on the 11th July 2006 and I was shocked when it happened. Shocked watching the news on television and reading about it in my newspaper here in the UK. What was it like for ordinary people in India, not the professional journalists? A quick look on the internet this afternoon left me in no doubt. Shinu Mathew who writes a blog called The Mumbai Marauder knows from first hand experience as he was on one of the trains when the bombs exploded. He writes about the Spirit of Mumbai and asks if it is the spirit of his city or an act of denial by the residents being their own way of coping. Reading his blog and others I got the feeling of life in this vibrant city with it's many problems. Life is very different there to what we enjoy here in the UK. There is unrest, riots, flooding every year, previous terrorist attacks and daily deaths on the railway. Life moves on for your average Mumbaikar who cannot afford to miss a day's pay at work to grieve with their community. Life is a daily struggle keeping their head above water, quite literally at times. So many fatal events happen that they cannot have the luxury of having a memorial day each year for each and every tragedy, there are not enough free days left on the calendar. You can understand why things appear to have got back to normal so very quickly when you read his and other bloggers opinions and observations. It must be very difficult for the Police to prevent these tragedies as they had previously seized some explosives but could not prevent these dreadful terrorist acts.

Residents have to get what little sleep they can, accept their nightmare dreams and move on to the next day's work. Mainstream media moves onto the next big story and the people of this city have to make the best of their miserable little lives in the best ways that they can. What did shine through was the good in human nature where help was unquestionably given to those in need, regardless of religion or class. I wish all residents of Mumbai the best in their future lives and hope that the situation on the ground improves quickly and becomes stable.

Thank you to Shinu Mathew and the other bloggers listed below for sharing their experiences and private thoughts with the world. Reading their postings it is easier for the reader to draw closure on the tragic events of 11th July 2006.

The Mumbai Marauder by Shinu Mathew

blah blah n more blah another face in the crowd

Lemon & Ice

James Cridland being himself

Crazy anonymous female

Simply ME unravelled by Deepa.
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