I just read the Article by Rajdeep Sardesai ‘An open letter to Uddhav Thackeray’ and would like to thank him for putting his foot forward to question the existence and actions of ‘T’ Company – very rightly called so. I and my husband live in the US – our work brought us here and we look at this arrangement just as our means to live - that doesn’t make us any less of an Indian – felt the need to state that before saying more as really would hate anyone questioning my being an Indian in any which way. Working in the US for me is like my Job taking me to any city in India that is not in the State where my forefathers or parents came from – though what I have not faced here in USA in the last 5-6 years is someone bullying me for not being an American but working here, but ironically I sincerely fear that would have happened long back to me if I were working in Mumbai – it would be less shocking to me if an American citizen questions my existence in their country than my fellow countrymen questioning me if I worked at Mumbai which is very much a part of MY India. I am sick and tired of the debate around ‘who belongs to Mumbai’ and ‘Mumbai belongs to whom’ – it is in my country’s territory and as an average citizen I have every right to live/work in any corner of my nation.
Every time we watch the Indian News channels showing the ‘T’ company initiated mayhem – we wonder don’t they have anything better to do for the country than questioning the integrity and Indian-ness of citizens of India who have made the country proud across the world in many ways, Or generating chaos among peacefully co-existing residents by sowing the seeds of regionalism – the whole ‘me mumbaikar’ debate, Or protesting against people celebrating Valentine’s Day in a country that just celebrated 60 years of being a ‘a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic’. If for them, celebrating love is western influence that is taking our culture away from us, they sure need a reality check – I wonder what advocating violence, threatening innocent people and violating the very principles of democracy does to my country’s culture. What would concern me more is when someone from outside claims part of my nation (read Kashmir) and spreads terror taking away thousands of innocent lives – if today we do not take a united stand to fight against the cruelty, tomorrow that could be the life of someone I love and grew up with.
The recent blast at German Bakery in Pune has left us shaken. This city always reminded me of some beautiful moments of my life few years back – of the times when I fell in love with my husband, when we moved to this city right after our marriage – set up our first home – nothing less than an extended Honeymoon is what we remember those three months as, every weekend was about visiting Inox or eSquare for the 10 m show. In the absence of a fully equipped kitchen at home, it never took us much to decide it dinner would be at a locale hotel in the neighborhood or a drive to the authentic bengali ‘fish-rice-mutton thali’ place across the street from e-square – I can bet this food could give any five star menu run for their money. Not to forget about our means to drive those days - had put in Rs. 600 to fix a close friend’s bike who was on a US trip those days and was kind as always to let us use his bike if we could get it to run. Those were times when friends could barge into each others place and lie there all day talking, eating and doing nothing; still fresh in my memory is that evening when I and Ajay were taking a stroll in Aundh area, and my funny friend stopped asking us for the keys to our flat so she could respond to an urgent nature call (I was foolish enough to waste time in asking why she was in such a rush, and my husband promptly intervened with a smile on his face “you don’t ask questions in these situations, just give her the keys immediately”). And then those countless trekking trips – I think I was made to climb anything that remotely looked like a hill around Pune – within few months, the lazy me had had a little too much of trekking and the group had started calling me the avid trekker for trying too hard to sabotage every upcoming trek plans. Then there were those great team parties, weekend cricket games (I would have preferred not to mention the cricket part and my skills there, but what I could not have missed were the breakfast options that followed) - always so much fun to be around those great & enthusiastic friends - Pune is all about our fun memories, the place my husband always wanted to settle down till I sold him Bhubaneswar (Orissa) as an option that would keep us closer to our parents.
Pune also reminds me of days when a phone call into each other could decide where our next supper would be – sadly today – I would be scared to do that, my close friends still reside here and I would not want my friends to be anywhere close to places where possibly a German Bakery incident could reoccur. Anyone who has been to Pune would know Singhgarh – my husband is an obsessive admirer of this place and it is difficult to mention how many times he might have visited the fort. One visit that stood out was when he trekked late evening to spend the night at the peak all by himself under the sky – I could call him weird but I always liked his weirdness. Though if he tells me he would do that today, I would be scared to death to let him go alone in the night and do something even much less weird than that. Such is the effect these unfortunate terror attacks have on an average resident, of once popular city now under the clouds of terror threats.
Pune also reminds me of days when a phone call into each other could decide where our next supper would be – sadly today – I would be scared to do that, my close friends still reside here and I would not want my friends to be anywhere close to places where possibly a German Bakery incident could reoccur. Anyone who has been to Pune would know Singhgarh – my husband is an obsessive admirer of this place and it is difficult to mention how many times he might have visited the fort. One visit that stood out was when he trekked late evening to spend the night at the peak all by himself under the sky – I could call him weird but I always liked his weirdness. Though if he tells me he would do that today, I would be scared to death to let him go alone in the night and do something even much less weird than that. Such is the effect these unfortunate terror attacks have on an average resident, of once popular city now under the clouds of terror threats.
My connection with Pune through some great memories have been shattered by what happened at the German Bakery. The ‘My Name is Khan’ controversy created by Sena was fresh on news channels when the German Bakery blast news and stories about how it changed lives of families impacted shook us all. The first thing my husband said to this was could the ‘Thackerays’ not use their so called power and Sena troops to fight against the terror attacks – be it 26/11 or German Bakery and do something more constructive than sending their people to burn SRK posters or disrupt MNIK shows at theatres or beat up innocent youngsters celebrating V day. We as citizens hardly loose an opportunity to find faults with the ruling Government and blatantly hold them responsible for mishaps caused due to loopholes in our security system – to an extent the Government holds responsibility but as citizens we do too and before we have done our part we do not deserve the right to point fingers.
‘T’ Company: The so called Protectors of Maharashtra and Mumbai, claiming to do everything in the interest of this state/city – for once can you work towards issues that would make Mumbai/Pune or any other place in the country a safer place to live in – can you use your energy, philosophy and power for the betterment of this country and come up with some constructive ways to satiate your hunger for Power – never forget that a democracy is ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’ – so win people by your actions – what you are doing will only take away their faith from the ideologies you are advocating. While it is important to save our culture, it is more important to save our nation – besides ask your conscience if the propaganda around preserving our culture is really what you want or is it the desire to rule Maharashtra that makes you send your army to disrupt the lives of common and good Indian citizens. Please help towards solving the real challenges the country is facing than creating more challenges for it – this message is not just for the ‘T’ company but for every such group that exists within India and claims that their actions are for our country’s betterment, please revisit your agenda and make sure your actions really bring good to the country. I have lived across many states of my nation and each brings back some awesome memories – I would hate to see any place declared unsafe due to the spreading terrorism –I want to see India as a country that the world could consider as a safe and peaceful place represented by nice, good hearted and friendly people. I have a 16 month old daughter who is the center of our lives – she has an US citizenship by virtue of being born here. As she grows up, I want her to know India as a safe and progressive country, I want her to hear about India for its outstanding positive achievements on the News channels. As the years pass, I want her to know how beautiful My country is – I want her to come to me and say some day – Mumma, I want to go and spend the rest of my life working for MY country – I want her to have as much conviction as I had years back when she sings “Saare jahan se acchhaaa Hindustan humara” – I am living with the hope to witness this dream coming true for every Indian parent.
Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of German Bakery tragedy.
