Having lived in Bombay for 18 years gives me two privileges. First to call it “Bombay” and not Mumbai and second to call it mine. I’ve hung out of the local trains to Churchgate during rush hour, jumped into moving BEST buses at Saki-Naka, eaten “wada-paav” at street side stalls in Dadar, tasted the breath of the first wave of monsoons at Gorai Beach, soaked in the careless waves at Carter Road Bandra, prayed at Sitladevi, prayed at Mount Mary, and have joined the heartbeat of thousands of cricket fans at Brabourne stadium.
So to see my Bombay reel under cowardly terrorist acts hits hard. I’ve taken trains from the VT station, stayed twice at the Oberoi Trident, and multiple times at the Taj. In fact my very first “buffet” as a kid was at the Oberoi, when my brother and I stared in shock at the spread on the food table , and had asked our Dad how many hungry mouths in Bombay could this buffet have fed. And these were the very establishments that came under attack.
The feeling of anger, desperation, helplessness, and fear surround all of us now … particularly those of us who aren’t in Bombay to heal it’s wounds. Empathy for the same policeman who we mocked as teenagers, as we bribed him 20 bucks for going down a one way street, is now emphatic. Seeing this unarmed, underpaid, and out-of-shape policeman attack the terrorists with his weary ”laathi” (baton) and slump over after taking a bullet to his chest made me shamelessly cry. Seeing the staff of Taj put themselves between the terrorists and their guests was a reminder of the Indian saying “mehmaan to bhagwaan hota hai” (Our Guest is our God .. loosely translated). And seeing firefighters with their spirits stronger than their ladders throwing themselves into the flames to save anyone they could was a horrid reminder of similar scenes on 9/11 in New York.
And when it was all done, watching the youth of the city rally with a cry that said “Enough is Enough” was encouraging. Truly – Enough is Enough! Let’s end the dichotomy of India’s confused international image which conveniently switches from portraying India as the “Economic waking Tiger” to the “Politically resilient Yogi”. Enough of false promises from our politicians, enough of displaced rhetoric from our neighboring nations, and enough of a confused identity with the world. It’s time for India to stand up on it’s own feet and take it’s destiny into it’s own hands. We did it 61 years ago and we can surely do it again.
Bombay will shrug this one off as well and bounce back. And it will forgive. It always does. It will once again stretch it’s tired arms to give shelter to the millions who call this their home …including the Ambani’s in their $2Billion 27 story skyscraper “bungalow” to the little boy in tattered clothes and his stray dog, the only thing that hasnt betrayed him yet, who cuddles up alone in a sack under the marine drive bridge clutching on to the 5 rupees he earned during the day and staring at a poster of a bollywood hero who he plans to replace one day. Or the next Slumdog Millionaire. Finally the crazy day will come to an end, the lights on Marine Drive’s Queens necklace will begin to dim and Bombay will go to sleep again - a little more afraid but a lot more wiser.
Bombay – I helplessly love you.
