7. Am I Responsible?

It was condemned as the most barbaric incident ever. Terrorism just became more terrifying. Mortal Combat was happening on the streets. The difference was – Only one side was equipped with arms while the other was simply empty handed and that was the common man. Needless to say, I am speechlessly talking about the catastrophic terror which struck Mumbai, the maximum city of the world on the 26th of November 2008.

Sixty odd hours, ten odd suicidal men and investment of less than half a million dollars resulted in a loss of few hundred invaluable lives and millions of dollars worth of infrastructure and assets. Additionally, hundreds were left permanently injured and thousands mourning for those family members who will only be in their minds and hearts for the rest of life.

The after-effects were all the more atrocious. Be it statements from our beloved politicians, be it the irresponsibility shown by the head representatives of our nation, be it the opposition blaming the ruling party or be it the common man protesting against the administration.

The last one might sound awkward though I feel it’s apt. A protest resulting in nothing won’t help. Forgetting this unforgettable incident will take no time. The blame-game will continue forever. Everything will be normal soon (I should say – it’s almost normal for most of us now). The cityite will be honored and praised with highly motivating lines. “Come what may, the spirit of Mumbai is always alive” – would be a diplomatic statement spread all around by media and the so-called rulers of the nation.

What the heck! In such a dreadful financial situation, I cannot afford to lose job. What will I do sitting home? Jeopardy is the part of life. I can’t just wait for everything to get completely stabilized, especially with the constant embedded fear of some one else taking my job and snatching away my bread (and butter for a few and jam for a very few).

Coming back to protest, I feel I should understand the responsibility now. Sacking a couple of ministers (whom I have elected) won’t make sense. They will be replaced by their brothers from another mother and a brother of thief could be a bigger thief. I just cannot get down on streets, object, shut down the work, grumble about the situation for a few days and sleep till another incident happens.

This is the time to get well-versed with the public administration. Do I know that I can file a PIL (Public Interest Litigation - http://59.92.116.99/eldoc1/b40b/01dec07lnv1.pdf) against the government? Do I know I have right to information (RTI - http://persmin.nic.in/RTI/welcomerti.htm)? Do I know I can cast a vote against NOBODY (“49-O” - http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/subord/cer1.htm)? Do I know that there is an open door policy for contacting the corporator, the local MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) and the MP (Member of Parliament)?

When it comes to all this, I always end up saying – I don’t have time, this is not my cup of tea, who will fall into this pit, if at all I plan to take action who will support me, in doing so, I will end up getting trapped and blah blah. The truth is - Neither I wanna invest my time nor energy since everything is smooth in my life till date. Even if something turns haphazard, I will find my ways to smoothen it but certainly not get into something which I believe is a bigger mess. A few days of grousing will soothe everything. This is the way I am fabricated to live.

I want to condition myself to believe just one thing – If I don’t take the responsibility, I better not moan about it. Either I take the charge or tolerate the things. There ain’t any third path.

PS: Writing such articles also makes no sense if this spark is not going to ignite the fire. It hardly takes any time to cool off the burning aspiration.