And again.

I am disgusted.

Actually, I am beyond disgusted. I am ashamed and for the first time in my life, embarrassed to be Indian. The respect for the tricolor I wear so strongly on sleeve, shattered and mauled.

Today, I lost the last bit of respect I had for Times of India (at this point, most of you are wondering why I had any respect for them anyway, another post) and the Indian media.

Yesterday, Mumbai was treated like a whore. She was raped and sodomised badly and the media, shamelessly reported on every bruise. As she lay there splayed, helpless to collect the tattered remains of her decency, the media fed on her pain and devoured her, taking titillating pictures that they wanted to be proud of. And it was all ok, because you know, its Mumbai and shes free for all.

Such a disgusting sham. Such a vulgar display of drama. Such an obscene way to treat such a sensitive story. Can we please show some restraint? Yes, its bad but we don’t need to make a sensational story out of it. For once, lets just think beyond ratings and think of the people. Clearly, somewhere down the line, we have lost the plot in media. We are no longer reporting, we are rumoring.

And I am no authority but I am going to try and put some things into perspective. First, lets stop shouting. Quit the marches, the prayers, the fucking candles. Clearly, its not working. Quit blaming the government. They are a bunch of blood sucking motherfuckers and you know that just as well as I do.
For starters, and I am not being insensitive here, these were smaller blasts, not in significance but in magnitude. Fewer lives were lost and I am thankful for that. Which is not to say that we shall not mourn the losses of those involved. We will. But we wont make a show of it. Please.

This time around, I am seeing a distinct difference in the way this is being viewed. People are angry and outraged, just like everytime but we are not blaming the authorities. Lets face it, what can they do? There are millions of people in just this one city. Despite all the checking and vigilance, slips will happen. I have noticed a distinct difference in everyone’s attitude in the city. People are more accepting of the security checks and we women give up our bags for a quick ruffle to the security lady without a squeak. This is definitely better than grunting in fake displeasure every time you got frisked. We are getting better but we are expecting miracles. Can we not see that the problem is bigger than just blaming someone?

Lets not forget how quickly it was nailed down to a terrorist attack. And of course our ball-less politicians will blame Pakistan. Fucking bollocks! I want to scream stop! Its enough. The blame game isn’t shaking anything. Nothing is moving forward. Stop this garish lip service. We don’t want it. If you think you have found the root of the problem, uproot it. Don’t sit there make treaties and pacts, lets stop behaving like bashful brides. Lets kick things where they hurt and not tip toe around issues.


And lastly, don’t make a fuss about Mumbai’s spirit. Media, if you cant see it, let me spell it out for you. Its not Mumbai’s spirit. It is resignation. It is giving up. If you think you are speaking to the aam junta, speak their language. And right now, none of us give a flying fuck. I think Mumbai bounces back because every Mumbaikar somehow believes that if he/she has to be killed, so be it. Life will simply go on.Every mind in Mumbai knows somewhere deep down that losing their life in a bombing is a distinct possibility and that they will be just another statistic. That is Mumbai’s spirit and the one we should be worried about.