Reflections of the days after 26/11 ‘08 & before 26/11 ‘09

The alarm goes off at 7 a.m., morning ablutions completed, time for a quick breakfast, catch my bus at 8.55 a.m. This is a work week, struggle to get into an overcrowded bus, step on peoples toes, neck craned, hoping to get a seat to rest my derriere before I reach my destination. Newspaper in one hand, reading it while continuing to furiously glance over my shoulder for that one seat before I get off.

Suddenly I notice a black contraption at the top of the entrance of the bus. Oh it’s a camera. I relax a bit. Honk, Honk, Honk, Honk, Screech… bus comes to a sudden halt and I am propelled closer towards the exist. Phew! I survived the almost fatal halt even today… I get off at the next stop; I’ve finally reached office having stood throughout the 1 hour journey

At the office entrance there is a security check. Bags are screened, employee ID’s to be swiped & in you go. It’s 8 p.m. still inside the office. The only window to the outside world is ironically the worldwide web. Checking news portals for news. Everything seems normal Naxalites attack police camp; abduct four , kill three policemen, inflation touches 5.64 pc,no respite as prices rise, farmer suicides on the rise, Chat with Saif & Kareena on their love making scenes in Kurbaan.

Leave for home, need to run or I’ll miss the 8.20 train. Friend calls up. Lets catch a movie. Ajab Gazaab is my choice. We head to a nearby mall. At the entrance of the mall the car also has to undergo screening. They use a long metal rod which has a mirror at one end. They also check what’s in the back seat. There are two boxes, we aren’t questioned. Perplexed about what we were put through we asked the guard what he was doing with the stick with an attached mirror. He said “ Pata nahin, humko aisa karney ko bola hai” We smirk and move on. Car parked we get into the mall. There is a metal framed box that I cross to get inside. There is a beeping sound. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I stand waiting for my bag to get checked. The lady yawns and opens the zip of my purse hands it back to me. I rush towards the screens; I don’t want to miss even the ads. Movie over I head back home ready to hit the bed.

Next day is another chapter in my life. The routine hasn’t changed and so also some other things. USA is still asking Pakistan to bring the perpetrators who attacked Mumbai on 26/11 to task. The Mumbai Police still manages civil protection with a lathi, there are lots of committees that are devising security upping measures, victims still seek justice and in some cases the monetary compensation as was promised to them.

But amidst all this there are something’s that have changed & changed for the better. To begin with people power toppled the top government officials who were seen as lackadaisical and inefficient. Though there hasn’t been an overhaul in the security systems one cannot ignore the increase in the number of surveillance cameras set-up in stations, buses etc. The most important change and a noticeable one is that people have become more vigilant. Today’s Mumbaikar doesn’t point fingers at the police but has joined hands with them.

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