Just a thought leading to another

We all have a place that we love to head towards time and again. A place where we can just sit  and have a chat with friends over a cup of tea, coffee or enjoy a quick meal. Or if you will, sit out in the sun , basking in the warmth of the venue, but even more, the sheer pleasure of being in a place where each member of the staff is keenly attuned to your requirements and greets you like a long lost friend the minute they catch sight of you.

I've got exactly one such place and its probably where I spend the most amount of time, outside my own home. This charming little cafe is called 'Darcys' and its located at Madinat Qaboos MQ) in Muscat.

My fave cafe

While I'm fairly engrossed  in my book,, magazine or newspaper if I'm alone here, or chatting animatedly with friends or family in other situations, I  do take a look around and nod at a familiar face every now and then. Most of the customers are regulars just like me and over a period one gets to know them somewhat too.

But then there are the other faces that seem somewhat out of place and that is exactly the reason why they stay in the mind. Every other time that I'm there, I see a 35' ish local man, who has a slight limp- and if one looks at him closely, doesn't seem to be entirely normal. Now I don't know why that is so, but one generally avoids making eye contact with him, for fear of...? I really don't have the answer here, but am just sharing my  thoughts. And believe me, I'm not the only one there who does this, its probably the majority of others present too.As for the staff, I've noticed that they sat him in a quiet corner where hes served a cup of tea and a small bite and after a short respite, he's off and on his way..

But last weekend saw a departure from the norm. My husband and myself were sitting outside and having our scones and tea and this man walked out.It was evident that he'd finished and was leaving. But here's the real surprise. Just as he reached the small gate which serves as the exit and entry point, he stopped, looked directly at us and waved goodbye. I too waved back instinctively.

I really don't know what it was about that simple gesture, but it touched me a great deal. For all the times, I'd thought of him as 'not exactly normal" he'd been seeing and focusing on me as a person who he'd learnt to recognise. Then one day, he actually reacted and how!

I find myself thinking of him every now and then. And have made up my mind that I will have a real conversation with him when I see him next.

Just one more reason to head back to Darcy's ...

26/11- Four years later

Today as we mark four years of the worst terror attacks that India has ever witnessed till date, many people, including the families of victims are still searching for answers to the reasons how and why.While its true that the only surviving terrorist was finally hanged a few days ago, I'm convinced that only a full fledged explanation to India by ;Pakistan will in some small way, help in mitigating the terrible trauma that was inflicted on one country by its immediate neighbour.

I'm using this opportunity to revisit a  couple of blogposts I'd written around that time and as I looked over them, I felt the very same horror and anguish I'd felt on those days,

Pic courtesy-BBC News

The first one
              
60 hours, 183 dead, and over 300 injured. The visible evidence of what has raged in Mumbai.

But what of that which is not visible, things that will remain under the surface and continue to smoulder...un-observed.

Until a tiny spark will light up the fire, once more, perhaps?

Many questions raised, some answers provided.

But the main one, as yet unanswered .How were 12 terrorists able to hold the whole of Mumbai to ransom, and where did all the ammunition come in from?

Someone....somewhere will have to provide these answers..

The second one-

Sooner, rather than later-(1/12/2008)

Today, we have a new Home Minister, and the Maharashtra CM has resigned, along with his Deputy.

The NSG finally has helicopters, and hopefully many more in the near future.

The two year old son, of a young Jewish Rabbi cries in confusion, having lost both his parents in a hail of bullets.

The ashes of the 183 dead people still smoulder...

Kerala CM Achutanandan vents his spleen on the slain hero,Maj Unnikrishnan's father, saying that if t had not been for him, even a dog would not have visited that house.

Some BJP leader objects to women "wearing lipstick and powder "and participating in a candle lit vigil, in the wake of this horrendous tragedy.

Can't help but wonder, what will tomorrow bring?

The third one

Sunday, December 7, 2008

And so, towards the future..

It's been just over 10 days since tragedy struck Mumbai.
And it's a whole 'new India' that has literally woken up to that fact....


I rejoice in the fact that it's all sections of society, as well as all age groups that are involved in this silent, peaceful awakening.

In the aftermath, so many truths have come to light.

The most critical being the fact that there were security and administration failures.And repeatedly at that.


Then the fact that various politicians attempted to capiatalize on the situation, in ways that are crude and difficult to believe, even today.

Top of mind-remember Narendra Modi and his 1 crore rupees?


This is the time when all responsible Indians need to step back and think.

And think, long as well as hard.

What is the India that we would like to have? One that our future generations will be able to truly and proudly move many, many leagues further?


Or back into a regressive, and terrible situation where some of our own countrymen, will have to fear for their lives as well as their families?


Such as what happened to the Sikh community in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's murder?

The horrors of that clearly and deliberately orchestrated pogrom return to haunt us, even today...

The saving grace that I clearly saw, was yesterday, the 6th of December.

When possibly few, if any, newspapers remembered to report that it was the Anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition...

So-There is definitely hope for this great country, India. 

If only we all take control and follow through with our individual bit of responsibility