"It was a nice day.. we visited lot of places.. I shall never forget this.. "
I was thanking Noushad sitting right opposite to IIT-D campus..
(An auto driver in Delhi.. with whom I had developed a jocund company..Just in three days we had developed a good rapport among ourselves..)
"Thank you sirji.." there came a modest reply from him..
after a brief silence..
"Delhi is a nice place.. But I have noticed one thing.. all the shopkeepers look at me as if I belong to a different planet..Is this, after effect of the Mumbai carnage?" I simply inquired..
"Of-course people are scared.. and police have asked them to keep a vigil on all tourists.. and strangers.." he was mocking at me..
"Hmmm... the attack on Taj was really bad..I think it was a worst attack on us.. "
He literally jumped on hearing those words..
"Oh! really.. (there was a sarcasm in his voice...).. there are much worse terror attacks in India..
Dec 13, 2001, there was attack on our Parliament.. which is considered as the heart of Indian Democracy...
We had the attack on Akhsardham temple.. Mumbai serial blast in 2003... and again there was a blast in Delhi.. killing more than 200 people.. attack on IISc the ugly face of terror showed up again in Mumbai serial blasts this time in suburban train. There are innumerable such attacks in Kashmir and North East. (Truly I had forgotten many of these.)
Very few remember these.. might be because.. all those who suffered there dead or alive are expendable... We are lethargic and hesitant to act. One of the reason could be, we have men in uniforms who are ready to give their lives for our mistakes.. And the best part is still we do not have a piece of land to build a memorial for them..but still we say Jai Jawan isn't that funny" his sarcastic smile still prevailed.
Trying to calm him down "Look how much we are moving ahead.. I am sure after this things will get better... don't worry.." I ate away last few words..
He almost shouted on hearing this.. "After this.. It is people with such mindset who are spoiling this beautiful country.. they follow armchair criticism doing nothing just sit and criticize.... its easy to say all these until and unless you have lost some one.. I have lost my entire family in one such attack..
Do you know what happened then?.. one crazy politician drops at your door step for publicity stunt with entire media and proclaims, I can understand your feelings.. better than anyone and I don't want any bastards feelings or sympathy but instead. I need justice... justice.. and justice alone."
On listening to all these I was puzzled..Now I could clearly see tears in his eyes..He was emotional.. His voice is completely chocked.. I could barely hear him.
"People say Pak is a threat to India.. China is a threat to India.. but the real threat is within us... though in 21st century we still have a medieval mindset...Hindu Muslim.. Bihari.. Madrasi.. and what not....When ever there is any attack on us.. Our leaders shamelessly look up to other countries for help. They do their best (other countries) by funding our rivals who in turn funds terrorist..We need a cricket match to realize, we are Indians or else another attack.. "
I maintained pin drop silence... and gave him all the time.. and after an hour we departed..
Now.. again back in bangalore I still wonder..at the conversation that I had..
Note
Noushad: A software professional who lost his entire family in one such attack.. and during my visit he was working as a auto driver...who is looking forward to settle down in Goa.. (I wonder why he took up that job-- auto driver.. )
