The spirit of Mumbai

A bit late, yes, but this post is not completely irrelevant.

There has been much talk of Mumbai's spirit in the media lately. There was even a "Letter to Terrorist From People of Mumbai" (from here) I received in the mail. However, I don't agree with most of it.

Saying Mumbai has bounced back from the blast is an insult to the people who have suffered personal losses in the blasts. For us, the casualties in the blasts have become mere statistics - when we hear of a blast in which, say, two people were killed, most of us think that it was not a _big_ one. What most of us in the comfort of your homes forget is that exactly those two people might have been the breadwinners, only daughters etc. of their respective families.

The theme the media followed seemed similar to what might have happened in the pre-independence days - when people participated in the freedom struggle knowing fully well that they might not survive to participate in the next agitation. In those days, mothers who would talk of sacrificing their sons for the country were not unheard of, and yes, an "act of terror" from the British wouldn't stifle the agitation, people would "bounce back".

But we are not fighting a war now, and we don't need sacrifices like this. People are getting back to work not because they want to teach the terrorists a lesson, but because they have to. Sending a message to the terrorists by getting back on our feet is important, but let us not disillusion ourselves and feel good about it.


PS: To be fair, TOI has only recently started reporting about how many in Mumbai are still unsure if they'll get back home once they venture out, however, initially, everyone instinctively latched on to the "Mumbai bounces back" theme.