AA MUMBAI CHHE!

It was also A WEDNESDAY. Exactly a week ago, Pakistani gunmen started off a siege that would go down in history as the longest terror attack in modern India. For over 60 hours, the whole Indian establishment was brought down to its knees, not knowing what to do for the most part. It was terror, live on your screen. 9/11 was also live, but the live terror action got over in 3-4 hours. This was unprecedented; the world was hooked on to live Indian TV channels for 60 hours watching in horror as the drama unfolded from place to place, not knowing where to focus. For a city known to bounce back, this is an acid test. What perhaps would remain etched forever in people's memory is the scene of the terrorists shooting down bystanders in Colaba, hijacking a police vehicle.



With videos like this constantly running in various channels, "dramatic" takes a new meaning. Over 60 hours, we were numbed by the tension and the live horror unfolding as we saw Indian TV channels go without any commercial breaks for over 2 days, non-stop. ATS chief Hemant Karkare was seen responding to the crisis, and we get the news of his death along with other two top cops Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, barely minutes after we see Mr. Karkare. Mumbai loses its elite authorities within minutes. Words fail to express the grief and horror, the whole episode made all the more alarming by the media onslaught upon our senses. Mumbai has taken a heavy toll, testing its resilience to the hilt.

I never thought I would see so much TV.

Now that investigations are on, politics in India has taken a heavy blow with some heads rolling. As for the city and its life, the "spirit of Mumbai", some argue has become a cliché. But I think it should prevail- it will prevail. A popular song of the yesteryears goes, "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan, Zara Hatke, Zara Bachke, Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan". But the cold Mumbaiker who doesn't seem to find time for anything, always lends out a helping hand. When the whole city was flooded with 95 cm of rainfall in 24 hours on 26th July 2005, Mumbaikers remarkably survived the ordeal by helping out fellow citizens with coffee, biscuits, snacks and water whenever they found people trying to reach their destinations. Cars with headlights turned on meant that area is unsafe to tread. People built rope bridges to help them walk across the roads in waist deep water throughout.

The spirit was put to test again, when terror struck commuter trains on July 11, 2006. Mumbai suburban trains are like the veins of this city, carrying 6.6 million people every day- which is more than half of the whole daily capacity of the total Indian Railways itself. Mumbai recoiled immediately, inspite of the rains hampering relief effort. Spirit of Mumbai prevailed again, with almost everybody who is anybody chipping in a bit of help: in offering first aid or blood, in ferrying people to hospitals, in clearing up the tracks so the city is up and running again. Spirit prevailed that even after such an attach which crippled Mumbai's trains and killed over 200, the stock market rose by 1% the very next day and to 3% by the end of the month.

Aa Mumbai chhe!

So, again when heavily armed gunmen target iconic locations in south Mumbai, will the spirit prevail? The answer is YES. Its not only in times of crisis that we note the spirit of Mumbai; Mumbaikers are a jolly lot with a air of pride about them. From the corporate bigwig to the common man, Mumbai's spirit is in the very place itself. The Dhobi ghats and its washer-men and women, the world famous dabbawalas, Shivaji and Shiv Sena, Bollywood, Stock Market, Maratha pride, Underworld, Cricket, God... this city has a recipe for everything. Perennially busy yet with a touch of compassion, this city will forever remain as vibrant and humane, this aamchi Mumbai!

Photo credit: Times of India, The Age