ATTACKED!!

Shock and anger were the two most common emotions Indians felt as terrorists put Mumbai under siege.It was as if the final frontier of home security was shelled down. We were citizens of this nation, now we are refugees.

Stay away from autos, they could be the next target. Don’t go to five star hotels, don’t you know what happened in Mumbai? Don’t go to crowded markets, the bargains may turn out to be too expensive. Don’t head for temples, you may get a direct ticket to heaven. Stay at home and hope no gun-totting terrorist group chooses on it as their base.

The fear hanging in the air makes it difficult to even do something like khuli hawa mein saans lena. Afterall that is what some victims were doing before they were ripped apart in the Central Park blast.

Ofcourse this also gives way to a new sort of boldness. If you cannot be safe anywhere, why bother?

Everyone has got an opinion on how these things can be avoided. Beef up security. Make checks stricter. More CCTV’s. More policemen on the road.

Practical solutions. But despite it all who will win this war?

Not us.

Yes, you read that right.

Not us.

Our countrymen have been killed, national property destroyed, terror spread. But bigger plagues have been unleashed. Innocence, faith and trust have been sacrificed.

The seeds of mistrust, paranoia and cynicism have been sown and society stands to change for ever.

So despite our greatest efforts, we will always remain victims. The light at the end of the tunnel will only be that of a lit bomb fuse. No matter how well we prepare, we can only win the battles. Because we have already lost the war.