Bomb-bay

Dear Ganpati Bappa,
Welcome back. You’ve been away from Mumbai for a year, and look what’s happened. Less than a week before your joyous arrival, the peace of the metropolis that adores and worships you has been shattered. I hang my head in shame. Forget about Mumbai becoming another Shanghai. The way things are going it’s beginning to resemble Beirut.
Don’t laugh, but fancy foreign consultants tell us to appoint a CEO to take care of the present mess. If you ask me, we need a general at the helm. Or at least a leader capable of sorting out our myriad problems - not the least of which is terrorism in our backyards. Check out the pathetic scenario: The state has no money. And we clearly have no leadership, as was clear the day bombs exploded.
Sadly, along with innocent lives, several myths about Mumbai’s ‘spirit’ exploded too. While the usual suspects were rounded up for appropriate sound bytes, the fact remains nobody gave much of a damn. I know. I was there at the Gateway of India under an hour after the killer cab flew into the air and took 17 people with it. Bystanders watching the cleaning-up operations in the parking lot appeared almost bored. ‘‘These things happen,’’ shrugged a regular to the popular tourist spot before shuffling away. Equally unmoved were hotel personnel more concerned about ensuring the safety of their own pampered guests. You, O Ganesh, Destroyer of Evil, Protector of the Helpless, would’ve wept had you watched the complete mess made by competing TV news channels. The tragedy was turned into a ludicrous circus. Self-important anchors vied to jump the gun and reel off rubbish. They got everything wrong - the number of blasts, the locations, the casualty count, everything.
While I was at the Gateway, the state’s leaders arrived officiously, looked around for TV cameras, provided meaningless assurances and zoomed off. All under 15 minutes. Meanwhile, wild rumours did the SMS rounds as distorted versions got mass-circulated.
No, Ganpati Bappa, I’m glad you weren’t there to witness the abject depths to which Mumbai has fallen. It’s all very well to congratulate ourselves and talk about how swiftly India’s commercial capital bounces back. It’s true that it does - but should it? I’m sorry, it oughtn’t to be ‘business as usual’ under such ghastly circumstances. It just isn’t morally right. Do we owe nothing to the dead? Have we made it so simple for enemies of the State to walk in, hire a cab, fill the boot with deadly RDX, cruise into a densely populated area, take a lunch break - and boom! Watch the fireworks that follow? That’s despicable. And worse, it’s irresponsible. We cannot afford to abdicate and say philosophically, ‘‘We have cope as best as we can. Terror is a fact of life in today’s world.’’ That’s like issuing an open invitation to those who want to destroy us.
We need your benign blessings, Ganpati Bappa. Give us the courage to fight back fiercely. Mumbai was never a polarised city - help us to keep it free from communal rot. We don’t need naive netas who come here and issue diktats to the CM (‘‘Find the culprits. Catch them immediately. This should not recur,’’ roared Sonia Gandhi). We need a pro-active approach to solving the crisis. We need citizens who feel involved and concerned. We need an action plan. Not mere lip-service by our pompous captains of Industry.
In short, we need you. The best CEO on earth. To heal our wounds. But also to carry the fight into the enemy camp. As we bow before you, today, we ask for strength and protection. And may you have a safe journey back yourself, with lusty cries of ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’ to see you off. Till next year, then give us your aashirwad.
Faithfully yours,
Devotee De.