The Mumbai blasts of 26/11 have left all of us in a state of shock. The thought of terrorists storming into the places which we all visit and killing people in a large number has instilled fear of how vulnerable we are.This act of terror shows that how in today's times no one is safe. Children have become orphaned, hundreds have been killed and injured.People at the sites of terror attacks have witnessed the horror of the near and dear ones being killed
and injured. We saw pictures of teen aged terrorists heavily armed flashing out on television, newspaper and internet. These people have no heart, they have become totally sick in their minds and have a dangerous mission of killing as many as they can before they die. Cries of the children, the fear of the people trapped and being taken as hostages, the brave officers falling prey to the bullets of the terrorists, the squabbling politicians, the stone hearted terrorists who went on a destruction spree....these images will remain embedded in my mind for a long time...
The city had turned into a war zone..but in the midst of these dark moments emerged
our real heroes...They were our armed forces, our NSG commandos, our police forces, our fire brigade...they even came in the form of the hotel staff who were out to help the trapped people...
To face the bullet for saving a family, to help the trapped people before helping their own families, to continue on duty even when you know that your own loved ones are dead, to refuse to help the terrorists and in return face the bullets shows how brave are the hotel
staff in the hours of crisis.They were calm, fearless, knew what their duty is...they could have saved their lives first but they stayed back to help the people out..
The terrorists had captured the entire building at strategic positions from where they could fire at anyone. But even in such difficult situation we saw our brave fire men rescuing the people trapped.They had limited resources, they didn't have any fireproof jackets, they operated for almost three days,they had to help the people trapped.They could have faced the bullets of the dangerous terrorists, but they were fearless, their main concern was to help as many people they can.
The police and armed forces gave their best.They faced the dreaded terrorists, gave them back a fitting reply. The NSG stood by its motto one for all, all for one.Brave commandos were there to rescue and pacify the panicked people. Their bravery showed us a light of hope. They showed us that when some one attacks us we can rise up, stand up and united can defeat the negative forces. The commandos gave a brave fight...the act of the deceased commando Sandeep Unnikrishna brought tears in the eyes...it is difficult to find people like him who sacrifice their lives for others without hesitation and fight till the end with the enemies without any fear.
How many of us can be like him...how many of us can think for others, how many of can help without thinking about our own benefit...I used to think such kind of selfless people do not exist, but now I do believe that yes such kind of people are there...
So many lives have been lost. But are we seriously thinking about them? In this whole incident we were let down by our own politicians. Instead of standing united against the forces of terror and instilling confidence and hope in the people, instead of acting like leaders they were squabbling and slandering each other.Most of them failed to realize the gravity of the situation. One of the state minister of Maharashtra comments "such small incidents happen in big cities like Mumbai".Oh really then why the hell didn't you go out and fight the terrorists if it was such a small incident. During the whole episode where was Raj Thackeray. The person with his goons who were out targeting the non-maharashtrians some weeks ago..who was fighting for marathis, who was dividing the nation on the basis of region was hiding like a coward. Why didn't his goons come out and beat the terrorists who were harming the marathis...is it because they know how to torture the innocent civilians and not the terrorists..why couldn't they come out in groups and torture the terrorists and beat them up with the same vigor that they had used in beating up the non-marathis and in destroying the public property.
What are the two major national parties doing? Busy in accusing each other over each other's policies. The opposition leaders do not attend the high level security meeting with the excuse that they are busy in election campaigning. Is campaigning more important or attending the meeting for formulating policies. The spokesperson of BJP comments the citizens who protest against political apathy and the women with lipstick and powder who shout against the politicians are equal to terrorists. Have the citizens no right to question our politicians. Have the politicians forgotten the fact that they are the servants of people of India and their responsibility is to hear their concerns and criticisms and take the required action. And what can I say about our central government.Why did it take so long to remove such an inefficient Home minister.Why they are delaying in implementing strong anti-terror measures. Do they require more destructive events for opening up the their eyes.
Our armed forces made us proud, made us believe good and brave people do exist who are ready to die for the country, but at the same time we also saw our politicians who again let us down, who made us believe that they are nothing but great opportunists who can never rise above vote bank politics and take brave and bold decisions in uniting and strengthening the social structure of our country.
We all fight within ourselves over petty issues, at least now we all should realize that it is high time we all act together for the nation with a motto of ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE and be brave like our armed forces and not like the chicken-hearted opportunistic politicians.

Weather outside has taken a pleasant change.It is raining with cool breeze around.But side by me lies the newspaper carrying pictures of dead bodies with blood splattered all over.
It is difficult to comphrehend which part of the body is it.Is it the head, or is it the hand, or is it the leg?? Who is the unfortunate person who had to face this kind of tragic death?Who wants an end to one's life in such a way where your own ones have difficulty in recognizing you?No one wants it...
But does everything happen according to what we want??
We want to lead an independent life where we are in control of what we do.We want to move without any terror in our heart.But everything is changing.Terror is spreading its tentacles all over our country.We the common people have an air of uncertainty hovering around us.We are afraid of what will happen to us the next moment we step out of our house.
We may be the next victim out there lying in the pool of blood crying out for help in grave pain.Well maybe I am becoming paranoid.But what can I do...These are the thoughts that keep coming into my mind...The fear of becoming the next victim..the fear of witnessing such event...
The frequecy of blasts have increased indicating that we are no longer safe...We can be attacked by terrorists at any point in bus,in market,in hospital or which ever place they want..
And on the top of that add to it the apathy of an inactive,impotent government which refuses to make stringent laws..which fails to see the pain and insecurity that the citizens of this country are made to undergo...And finally we have this set of terrorists who are nothing but stone hearted demons who
find extraordinary pleasure in killing innocent people..who cherish the sight of bodies being strewn apart..who find the cries of the helpless people dying out in pain soothing to their ears..
Will this scenario continue..are we compromising on our freedom...are we becoming accustomed to what is happening to us...are we so patient to suffer the injustice done to us...Will we ever raise our voice..Will we ever revolt against the terror..Will we ever find the required courage to do that??

Why is being a Dalit a curse?
Why they don't deserve the right to lead their
lives with dignity? Why are they humiliated even after sixty years of independence? Why are we not ashamed of ourselves for denying our fellow Indians the right to equality?
A Dalit woman and her daughter were stripped and beaten up by the upper caste people in Ajmer. What was the crime for which the two women had to suffer such
gross humiliation in front of the entire village? The only mistake that was on their part was the mother resented some upper caste people from taking away her sixteen year old daughter forcibly. A resentment which infuriated the upper caste people to the infinite extent of stripping the two helpless women in front of the entire public.
The question that arises in my mind is that does belonging to a higher caste grant you the right to perpetrate such ghastly acts against the lower castes.
If you are born as a Dalit then what is your fault? When God considers every human to be equal who are we to create boundaries based on caste. What is this kind of dharma that rips off the humanity present in us and makes us ill treat our fellow beings and creates a monster out of us.
I don't understand this caste system. I don't understand
why this system should get the right to create inequalities, sufferings and miseries.
Laws are there in the constitution to protect the Dalits. But it is only for namesake. Dalits are always ill treated, sometimes it gets noticed and sometimes it doesn't. Politicians derive political mileage out of the incidents, convince the Dalits that they will get justice, gain votes
and then forget the promises made.
This malaise of caste system is so deeply rooted in our psyche that we refuse to come out of it. But one thing we forget is that India will never be completely free until every individual in this country is free, equal and secure.

American president George Bush's remark that India is responsible for the existing food crisis proves that how ill-informed is America about the situation in India and how easy it is for them to blame us for the price rise.
Bush commented that the Indian middle class has started to gain wealth and when you gain wealth you start demanding better food and better nutrition and when demand is higher the prices go up and as Indian middle class population is about 350 million which is larger than the American population India is responsible for the ongoing global food crisis.
Some may term this as a good observation statistically, but one doubt persists in my mind. Why is America getting worried when Indians are demanding for better nutrition. Statistically a large portion of India's population is suffering from malnutrition. People do not get enough two square meal per day to feed themselves. The middle class is feeling the pain of price rise as financially they are not that prepared to handle daily rises in the basic commodities. India's major portion lies in the rural belt where people do not have enough money to feed themselves. Farmers are committing suicides. According to United Nations India is among the countries where a majority of the children are suffering from the problem of malnutrition. Poverty is a problem that has been lurking as a bug in India for the past decades.
So now when India is slowly making progress and people have started to gain wealth obviously they will demand food of better nutrition value. What do people work for? For money and what is money required for? To ensure that the family gets food and is not starving. When people in America do that Indian president never questions them but when people in India do that an American president feels that he has the very right to question us.
Being the super power does not give a country the right to interfere in every country's matter. The under developed and developing nations are trying to overcome the problems of poverty and malnutrition. What is the harm if the people of these countries are trying to earn and become financially stable. It is not that only developed nations have that right to do.
Regarding the price rise it is a global issue. Why blame the countries like India and China?
In many countries the production of grains has decreased due to droughts leading to price rises. The African and Asian countries are the ones who are feeling most of the heat of price rise. What is expected of the developed countries at this stage is to stop blaming the other countries and extend help in counter attacking this global crisis of inflation.