Nov. 26th Bombay, Among other things....

As soon as I turned on TV in the early night on the 26th and witnessed lunacy at its best- the indiscriminate gunfire in South Bombay, surprise and shock gripped me. I wasn't sure that the Local cops would be able to contain them immediately, but never did I expect it to turn the way we have witnessed all of Nov. 27th 2008.

After texting my friends about the news, i turned in early on the 26th. Woke up early next morning, only to find-the Taj mahal hotel set abaze, and a terrorist situation. Like i am sure you have heard the news channels say, things turned very fast. A lot of policemen were killed including ATS chief, ACP Mumbai and an experienced Encounter Specialist. I don't know them personally, but instant sorrow and grief swept over me.I have found that as soon as you put a face and name to any one among the hundred anonymous victims, a deep sense of sadness fills me.

I was among the relatively fortunate who saw this terrorist situation develop rapidly into a hostage situation  from my home, and not on the streets of South Bombay, or inside those buildings. The news channels albeit doing their best not to perform their tacit responsibility of SENSATIONALIZING the news, were not entirely helpful. They kept repeating what we knew, and showed that they did little to find out more. CNN an American news channel, was the only one I could find who went online to get information. Which was giving more information than the hordes of journalists at ground zero. When i went online myself to find out about the "DECCAN Mujahideen"(seemed so much of a made up name), i found out on Wikipedia a few lines. There was more information about the events that took place last night on the internet(Wikipedia, BBC,word press) than on the news channels.

Our media sadly were found digging for new treasure on an already explored island. The most silliest of questions were posed to a survivor, and the DG of police. One good thing was they were flashing helpline numbers and were calling out for donation of blood. I am unaware of the response people got on those helpline numbers.

While I saw no pattern emerge from the series of events, there were news channels saying it was an attack on Westerners. But in that case CAMA hospital, VT station, Vile Parle all just dont add up. If it was to create confusion, they have not created CONFUSION. And as suggest to me by my friend over the phone, i don't think its just a gang of people with an aim to take lives. They would have killed everyone by now. The mind of a lunatic cannot be understood to have motives, i agree, but surely there must be some reason, even if it is changing from time to time, and pointless.

Our beloved political parties, with their hordes and hordes of activists maintained a conspicuous silence given their proclaimed love for this state and its aboriginals. There is so much they could have done. I don't mean fight the terrorists(although when they start protesting and disrupting daily lives for their leader, they have a countenance that betrays invincibility), but things like getting on the streets, and moving people from crowded hospital to one which isn't as busy. Move victims who make it out to safe locations. Find out about the people inside, and make sure their relatives know.
Patrol the streets of Bombay, and see if they can identify any disruptive acts. There is so much they could have done if they really felt for this city they way they claim. But that i guess, is expecting way too much. Where would the head honchos be able to create their own disruptiveness by helping the city. Even the city's MoS and MLa's presence does nothing really; Apart from wasting the time of the security forces, by getting an explanation of the situation, and doing nothing with it. They and global leaders did what they can do best...Condemn.

The NSG, RAF, Navy and police appear to be doing all they can. It must be a difficult job to identify among innocent hostages -the bad guys, and take them out. While I will salute their bravery and courage, and patience, it is what they have been trained for. They are doing their JOB. ANY LESS would be unacceptable. It is good news that they have managed to capture one of the terrorists and ascertain their identity.

There is no doubt that Bombay is playing host to a deadly situation, but certainly a lot is left to be desired for. I would like to convey my condolences to all those people who have lost dear ones in this battle, hope that the hostages return unharmed, and the perpetrators are massacred unceremoniously in public.

Marilyn Manson --- Songs?

In a bid to listen to new kinds of music, I decided one day deviate from the genre of music I generally listen to when on the move, and switch to what my friends were raving about. And thus went ahead and put in my iPod, Marilyn Manson: Antichrist Superstar. I had already heard two of their songs, and they didn’t seem so outlandish. I regret I expected the same from this album. 

The songs start off with morbid music. Deathly and ghoulish, the start of the song is almost certain to give you the creeps at night. The songs’ intro can be used for the original soundtrack of a film Zombies-a-rising. And those that don’t fit that bill will be just perfect as a dirge. That’s as much as I can say about the intro to any song. 

If perchance, we decide to listen on and not skip the song after the intro, we then begin to understand my peers’ raving in unintelligible noises. They are merely singing the song!!! The words just don’t feature in any language. We know bands like Rammstein is German, so we expect to not understand. A linguist of global nature wouldn’t know what to make of this group’s songs. Their lexicon seems to be borrowed from aliens. 

All these thoughts went through my mind as I sat in the bus, listening to the songs, when suddenly; I was wrenched away from the song by the sound of screeching brakes. I soon realized this wasn’t any accident, because the bus continued to move… the iPod was showing the first song had ended and the next song had begun! What I had heard was the coda, indistinguishable from screeching brakes! The other songs too had similar pieces featuring breaking guitars, screams, and fade-outs in some sort of gibberish. 

Strangely, I didn’t mind all the weird elements to this kind of music. “Alternative metal” it’s called. The incomprehensible lyrics don’t really bother me and I am sure they don’t bother the fans of this Band either. The music is nice, the only thing is that to enjoy it best all you need to do is emerge from the crypt.