Who killed my Mumbai?




Mumbai is dead and gone. The Mumbai that lives in my heart, I mean. As I sit watching the electronic images that beam in to my soul, I drip blood. I am pained by the callousness of my Home Minister. I’m pained at the non-intelligence of our national intelligence infrastructure.

Imagine a bunch of terror mongers sailing in, on a raft loaded with ammunition and taking over important landmarks in global Mumbai. Imagine a scenario where in a security system claiming to be on par with world standards not even seeing a flickering spot on its intelligence radar even after lives at the Taj and VT were snuffed out with sheer gun power. These all happened in a night, while we were all sleeping or about to sleep.

Sadly, the Home Minister is still sleeping. If he is awake he must be out to choose his best attire to come on TV. Remember, he did that a few weeks ago when another set of terror vendors continuously struck different spots across the north. Guess he should have been a telly anchor in designer clothing. He would have been better doing that. On a day when the global hotspot of India was reverberating with grenade blasts and gun shots, grihmantri saheb went on camera saying “the terrorists left before he arrived.” Whattheheck!

Do I need a dummy to protect the city of my dreams? Whenever people said this city never sleeps, I have never wasted time to echo that truth and feel proud. Sad, the city is sleeping, never to wake up again.

Who killed Mumbai? I, you, and all who loved the metro. If we had loved Mumbai as it used to love us, we would never have let a rubber raft come sailing with RDX loaded to the brim. If we had wanted Mumbai to live on, we would never have let a Raj Thackeray make Mumbai just his. If we had wanted Mumbai to smile as it used to, we would never have let saffron and green be treated as two different religious brands ever. They once upon a time used to be just colours, we made them brands of two different religions and attached a militant tag to them. No wonder, Mumbai died an early death.

Will Mumbai see resurrection day ever? Wish she would. But we need more than just dreams to see her through. And, that includes chucking out the Patils in government and the Thackerays from Maharashtra soil. In a changed financial world, who lives if Mumbai dies, who dies if Mumbai lives!

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