ten years ago

i'd almost forgotten it. rather, i'd actually forgotten ten years ago today, it was a bloody friday, in the middle of ramzan, ayaz uncle came home, a little shaken. that was the day my home town had, in the midst of recovery from the racial riots of december and january, been dealt another blow in the form of those horrific blasts. i'm ashamed the date did not bring back that memory, for what excuse do we have to forget the past? isn't it the past itself that shaped us? ayaz uncle had been on his way to cover some cricket series when, in front of his very eyes the plaza cinema blew up. my father too related later in the day the gathering horror of that afternoon when, between one thirty and three twenty, eleven blasts rocked india's commercial capital. there was a toll of two hundred and fifty seven lives that friday, several hundred more injured and affected in indirect ways. but the city had started limping back within days, they even had trading the next monday, testimonial to the unbeatable spirit of mumbaikars, considering the stock exchange itself had been one of the targets. those were terrible years, the babri masjid demolition of december 6, 1992 still rankles the collective muslim soul of india. it is pitiable what happened in gujrat, i'm sorry for my country and for my people, when will it, will it ever, stop? i'm not even twenty three yet, and i've already seen a couple of major wars happening, innumerable terrorist attacks, racial riots, a huge economic boom, an equally big bust, an incredible technological revolution, i'm wondering what's next? i hope not another war/terror attack/bust, hopefully something nice , please, god pleaaaassssse
posted by ubaid - Wednesday, March 12, 2003 at 12:07 AM - 0 comments - post anonymously