How tolerant are we??

I was there. In the city of Bombay, forgetting all about my placements, end semester exams and my parents' anniversary. I witnessed the city come to an abrupt standstill at the hands of terrorists like never before. Heroes were lost and not for the first time. The turmoil lasted for 4 days some would say but for many across India and Bombay it still continues. My point however is not "What happened on 26/11?", but "How was it different?". Agreed the magnitude and method was very different, but how WE handled it was much the same. Blame games, sacking of useless politicians and then their reappointment, money being wasted to keep the main accused alive and once again getting manipulated by Pakistan are things that have happened every time. So why is 26/11 any different?

It forced me to think how tolerant are we? How much can we take? Why do people still live in India after all this? Why does everyone who has an opportunity to run away from the country doesn't go? Some would say everything is the same everywhere. Terrorism is everywhere, true, but in other places your leaders do everything in their power to bring the guilty to justice. Some of you would say, that western countries are racists and look at all Asians with a look of suspicion. I remember during my Europe trip my passport was checked at least 3 times on every train and every cop looked at me like a piece of filth. But in my opinion, this life is still better than no life. Moreover, if they didn't look at US like this, they would be terrorized just the same. It is only people looking like you and me who make bombs and blow them too.

Maybe because I am in a different country, maybe it is the 26/11 thing getting to me, but I am feeling a lot more safe here in UAE. I maybe wrong but I havent really heard of many terrorist strikes outside India/Pakistan. Leaves me wondering how much do we Indians can tolerate.

We’re all the same people, yaar

While watching the Pakistan vs New Zealand cricket match taking place in Abu Dhabi, I was wondering what people of Pakistan think about the situation there country is in. Daily suicide attacks killing hundreds of civilians means no cricket can be played in Pakistan because no country thinks it is safe enough to tour. The situation has definitely worsened after the Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked some months ago. I wonder why people agree (or should I say don't hesitate as much) in touring India and Sri Lanka where the terror threat is still there, even if not as pronounced as it is in Pakistan. Is it because of the mindset of people of the respective countries or is it because of the very different history of the two countries?

History: Post 1947 Pakistan attached itself to the US and became a toy in the hands of the US authorities. On the other hand India did not align itself to any of the cold-warring countries and headed the Non-Alignment-Moment. It was because of this approach that both countries progressed so differently in the years following independence. Pakistan was constantly used as a playground by the US for keeping watch on erstwhile USSR and Afgan rebels and Chinese development. India on the other hand developed independent trade policies and laid the foundation for an economic superpower.

People: The difference of mindset in people is evident from the fact that Indians value and respect heroes from all religions and cultures. In India a Dilip Kumar can change his name to A.R. Rehman at the age of 21 and still be worshiped. In India Sampooran Singh Kalra changes his name to Gulzar so as to not lose himself in blind religious prejudice and fanaticism, and then go on to be the most successful and praised individual in his field. Rehman, Gulzar and another muslin Resool Pookutty won oscars early this year and the entire country went mad. I cannot remember any such incident in the history of Pakistan. In fact Yousuf Yohanna concerted to Islam and became Mohammad Yousuf.

We Indians define ourselves by nationality, they define themselves by religion. We often hear that people from India and Pakistan are the same in every sense just separated by a border. Both countries and people have similar lifestyle, similar tastes, similar perspective about things. But really??

Acknowledgments: "Counterpoint" by Vir Sanghvi (must read, though some opinions are very harsh and might be unacceptable to many)