Have decided to take a detour from my normal MBA rants which seem so useless now in the grand scheme of things. India in general and Mumbai in particular is not new to terrorism. We have seen it happen in our trains, parliament, streets, malls and what not. This time however, it is different.
By entering the Taj, one of the principal landmarks of Mumbai and keeping people including foreigners hostage so brazenly for 2 whole days, the perpetrators have proved 3 things in the most disturbing manner-
1. You could be in a train, you could be working in an office building, you could be having dinner in a 5 star restaurant or you could be out in the street catching up with friends. In all of these cases, you can be attacked by a group of crazy jihadis in full view of the public.
2. Our politicians are a bunch of useless people who have no idea how to combat terror and could not care less as long as they get votes and can squander public wealth.
3. The common man has no security , can rely on no bigger god to bail him out and worst, he has no means of protecting himself. Caught between terrorists aiming for glory and the Government just mouthing big words, he lives in fear.
As I can do nothing else but get angry and feel helpless alternatively, my heart cries out for justice and peace. Is that too much to demand? In today’s world, I think yes.
PS: My flight to London is from Mumbai. Honestly, I dont care anymore. If I cannot make it to an HBS interview because of a cancelled flight, so be it. It would be a small sacrifice to pay for the lives of the hundreds in Mumbai.
