A tribute to the Martyrs - Altered

Terrorism... a curse to humanity... one year has passed after the country witnessed one of the most gruesome terror attacks in history, yes... you are right 26/11/2008, mumbai terror attacks... the pictures and the videos which ran through our television boxes that of the victims aand the terrorised hostages along with the governments blunt attitude towards the issue during that time, are still fresh in the minds as they were before.

India observed the first anniversary of 26/11 by conducting remembrance campaigns all over the country in different places and locations. The question here arises that, what does one expect out of these remembrance campaigns et al, and what do they ultimately find there?? My question was answered…..

Two groups gathered simultaneously at Salem Bye pass, Shivaji Nagar, bengaluru, near the Mahatma Gandhi statue, though for one reason but with different ideas and concepts.

Both their ideas were brilliant, one wanted to donate the net income generated during the campaign period to Police force of our country to acquire better protective gears. And the other just wanted to remember this day and pay homage to those who lost their lives during those 60 hours.

One would have expected to hear about the lives of the martyrs and their heroic sacrifices for the country as a remembrance of their courage and bravery, but it was appalling to notice that the event was turned into a publicity stunt by both the organizers. Though their ideas and cause were excellent, but the only thing which went wrong was that they forgot those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country. There was neither a photograph nor a mention about the brave heroes. The event organized by one of them did have the posters of the martyrs and did mention them at the end… for some, one and a half minutes. (Due to the request made by an audience)

Our soldiers who died for us… are definitely worthy of getting more than this… It is hard to swallow that people like Ashok Kamte, Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Sadanand Datye, Sandip Unnikrishnan, Shashank Shinde, Tukaram Omble and others, didn’t give it a second thought to loose their lives for our country… a country in which they are forgotten in no time…

The event did accomplish its goals… it made for an incredible publicity stunt for both the groups… It was more about political issues and marketing stunts, rather than words of gratitude for those who lost their lives in the fumes of terrorism. Both the organizers made maximum use of the public presence to market themselves and people (wannabes) used the event to pose for the media. The solemn gathering was ultimately turned into an ad campaign. Though the candles were lit and homage was paid, by the chief guests and others, the thing which was noticed, was that those who genuinely wanted to pay tribute and light candles, didn’t get their chance to do so. Ultimately, people and the chief guest only danced to the tunes of the cameraman and the media.

How the tribute to the martyrs turned into a talk of India – Pakistan rivalry and the partition of the latter is beyond anyone’s comprehension, the two hypocritic hours ended meaninglessly and people dispersed with confused minds.

This incident answers my question... as to what does one get in such remembrance campaigns where they go to light candles and pray for the souls who died in the catastrophe.

Potholes for the roads and loopholes for the system!! everything is planned!!

The other day, I was walking on a road which was said to be prone to accidents, there was a senior citizen walking alongside, may be for an evening walk. He had a sweet smile on his wrinkled face, and the smile was such that it could make anyone think, he had no worries in life, he was leading a life loaded with happiness and there was no room for anything negative.
I crossed the road and walked up to the nearby shop, I was there for about some five minutes, bargaining... in my own world, and then suddenly I heard a loud scream, the next moment was something, I can never forget.. there was a huge crowd on the road, I had goosebumps all over my body, I was frightened, scared and shocked at the same time to see the same old man who was smiling a few minutes ago, lying dead with blood and flesh all over the place, the bus standing there ran over the old man, while he tried to cross the road. the impact of the accident was such that the intestine of that man was all over the place.

This is just one incident, this happens every alternate day in some place or the other
When this sort of an incident takes place.. we find people fighting and blaming the driver of the vehicle responsible for the act. There are times when we see people throwing stones at the vehicle.
If the driver is solely responsible for the act, it is reasonable to blame him, but what about those accidents where the drivers fault is very less, some times negligible, what if the roads are the major cause of the accident, what if the road plays a major role in the brutal death of a human or an animal?? It will make no sence in throwing stones at it.. right??
We say that the road is prone to accidents, have we asked ourselves the question as to 'why?' ??
May many of you know the answer, you may say that it is because of those innumerable potholes, the bad structured roads, roads are not taken care of, or because it was not well planned.. when it was built and why is it that the roads are not planned or well structured or have pot holes??
It is because of the simple reason that the people responsible for the work, are irresponsible themselves, because of the word called corruption which is eating up everything, corruption is that organism which eats up our economy.
People pay something called tax, thinking it will help in the development of our country.
When a commodity is bough, be it anything from an eraser to a refrigerator, from a safety pin to the mechanical instruments used in the factories and industries, we pay tax.. and then income tax VAT and what not... It is all paid thinking our country will develop.
We all have studied in our social studies books when we were kids that India is a developing country, and even today we say the same thing. Even today we find villages without electricity, water and the basic amenities of life there are millions of people who are unemployed and jobless, who are under the poverty line, there is a huge number of child labours in our country working day and night in order to earn their living, even after the ban.
This was about the Villages and it also implies to the cities, metros and towns, in these places we can still say that things are improving, there are flyovers and highways, huge beautiful buildings coming up every day but again we see the beauty and strength of the buildings but forget about those who work behind the scene as it is said in case of cinema... yes I am talking about the labourer have you ever looked back at the condition of those poor people who work for long hours and live in unhygienic conditions, unable to send their kids for their schooling, they end up making their children child labours, and after these hardships they stay in those tents made of plastic covers, clothes and bamboos, along the road sides, near those plots where people dump there garbage and their daily house hold wastes.. without water and food for their kids.
It is the responsibility of the higher authorities to look after the basic needs of their people(labours), but what is found an the stark reality is that the labours do not even have a roof over their head, their children are not looked after once their parents leave for work, they live in unhygienic conditions and are prone to diseases.

People who build those beautiful, strong and heavenly buildings, they themselves live in conditions unimaginable and heartrendering......


Now I guess this will make your brains ponder over these issues, and will atleast make you think for some minutes as to... 'where are the loopholes in our system'