Snehreal’s Weblog

Bad news. Terrorists have struck the beautiful pink city of Jaipur, India. Latest reports put the number of dead at 80 while the injured are expected to be around 100.

I am not superstitious by nature but sometimes life is a sequence of coincidences that can’t be ignore. In retrospect, they seem like natural fallouts. Fate set in motion, just without our knowledge. For me, it all began with the Myanmar cyclone. The dark clouds had started building up.

Next, the earthquake strikes China. I remember sitting at Worli sea face and looking at the clouds gathering above me. I was thinking subconsciously…are we next? Trouble seemed to be heading closer and closer home. Then yesterday, at the library, I picked up Black Friday. It is a book that describes the ’93 Mumbai blasts. I had just begun reading the first chapter, which relayed the sequence of the blasts. With a sinking feeling in my heart, I read the stories of victims when my mother called out… “There have been serial bomb blasts in Jaipur.” 

We never come out of this time warp. Terror strikes when we least expect it. Everyday is a struggle against fate and time. We live in the moment savouring each day of our existence. This was put into perspective by my dad. While I was hell-bent on watching the news to hear about the victims, he wanted to watch the IPL match. I asked how could he be so insensitive to another’s misery? His answer, life goes on.

While we grieve for the dead, we cannot stop our existence. When the blasts took place on the Mumbai locals, life came to a standstill for about an hour in Mumbai. There was panic in the air and tension all around. Then everyone pulled up their sleeves and set to work. Some by helping victims and coordinating rescues, others by simply heading home. This was best explained by the example set by the WR and CR officials. By late night, they had cleared the stations and had begun train services yet again.

In a few days, everything was back to normal. This morning, I get the same feeling of déjà vu. Life will go on for the people of Jaipur. Their toughest hour has passed and in the face of terror, they have shown the deepest courage… the courage to live on.