A concoction of emotions

I got up on Wednesday morning (I am currently in the US) to hear about the tragedy unfolding in Mumbai.

Just another of those terrorist activities, you ask? If you are an Indian and not directly affected, varied reactions are usual.  A few take pride in suggesting that we Indian are a resistant lot and we will take this in our stride; others are empathetic toward the people who lost their lives (at the time of writing this article, the dead numbered around 150 and the injured numbered around 350); still others are indignant about the ongoing terrorism in different parts of India.
So, how should one feel about this? Angered, saddened, repulsed, confused, moved, frustrated? I don’t believe it is as simple – our current state would represent an entangled web of emotions. While our hearts go out to these innocent people who lost their lives or were injured, we need to look forward and come up with a strategy to ensure that 25 pests do not hold the country to ransom again… ever again! A couple of random thoughts to get your blood going:

1. Proud to be an Indian? Well, now is the time for all of us to dig deeper into our souls and search for an extra dose of patriotism – so, for the love of God, politicians, please do not use this as a poll winning tactic
2. Time and again, terrorists strike in major cities in India and every single time, there is a war of words with Pakistan. Can we get off this time wasting strategy? Do we have proof about right wing groups in that country being directly involved? If not, lets drop it; if we do, I suggest a free copy of the “Munich” movie to our internal security ministry
3. Human life is not cheap – yet, we sometimes treat it cheaply. We have court cases from terrorist activity from 15 years ago lying unsolved . Where do you think these “Deccan Mujahedeen” get the guts to attack civil society?

I will let the government of India come up with a comprehensive plan to tackle the menace of terrorism. Instead I will propose solutions aimed at strengthening our fundamental roots as a nation.

1. Let us start with patriotism – can we teach this in our schools? How to love and respect India? No, that is not about cheering India at Cricket while they play Pakistan, but instead, having a deep rooted knowledge and respect for a free democracy
2. How about mandatory government service of 6-12 months for every Indian at the age of 18? We can all sit here and criticize the bureaucrats for doing a sloppy job, but let us get into their shoes and understand some ground realities
3. Let us put aside our ego and ask ourselves the question – do we need to re-look at some of our aged institutions? The Indian Administration Service is over 50 years old, our judicial system, predicated on the common law system, needs a serious booster dose, and finally, our legislative and executive branches of government are plain ineffective (often times being run by incompetent, insensitive or illiterate politicians)
4. How can I help? Can I work for the RAW? How about Army Intelligence? How about any other form of government? The extremely unfortunate answer is that you are ineligible as an Indian after you have reached the age of 29 (the only exception being the Territorial Army). Please!!! Someone change this rule – there are a lot of people out there who want to give back to India but end up doing other things in the early part of their lives. As food for thought, consider that the FBI and CIA hire at most top business schools in the USA; when was the last time RAW or CBI hired from IIM-A?

This post is emotionally charged but that is how I feel now. I am sure people will disagree on some of the content but I am up for a healthy debate only if we all agree that status quo is NOT an option.

On an extremely sober and respectful note, 3 cheers to a safe India! Jai Hind!

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