Ashok Chakra. A Tribute to Mumbai 26/11.

Today, 26/11/2010 marks the 2^nd anniversary of one of the most horrifying incidents of Post-Independence India. Let us salute the brave souls who lost their lives fighting selflessly on the 3 black letter days in Mumbai and also pray for all of the deceased souls.

 

Click here for the full list of the deceased during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Everyone will have a story to tell about this day, the date. My story of the Mumbai attacks goes on like this. On the night of 26^th Nov, 2008, I was chatting with a friend of mine from Mumbai. So while we were chatting, the news of a terrorist strike broke out and this friend was the one who told me about it. She rushed on to make a couple of phone calls to ensure the safety of her friends. I glanced across several websites to get to know the details and was incidentally relieved to find out it was not a bomb blast, which could really take away lots of lives instantly. Only after a while did I notice that the attack was even more dangerous and serious than a bomb blast. Live terrorists were shooting down innocent lives with machine guns in many crowded and landmark places of one of the most populous cities in the world. While this friend was chatting with me late in the night, she got a call and a moment or two later, returned to say her friend was also shot at the Taj Mahal Palace and went offline before I could offer a word of console.

I’ve always had this belief that the best of anyone comes out when in troubled times. I have fond memories how people unite in face of troubled times. Back in Sainik School while in the 9^th class, we used to be the junior-most in the house, inferior to the 10^th, 11^th & the 12^th guys. So facing the rigorous punishments on a day to day basis, what really happens is that it unites each one of the sufferers into one, one big nutshell. Mumbaikars found the same strength in the troubled times and they showed their courage and determination by going to their respective works from the very next day. By doing so, they had given out a clear message to the perpetuators of the attack that nothing can hinder the spirits of the people of Mumbai and the citizens of India.

Two years have gone and the lone captured terrorist Ajmal Kasab is still alive. Several leads have been found, but no real action has been taken against the real organizers of the crime. Heaven knows what, ‘Dossiers’ have been exchanged between the Indian & Pakistani governments and even the Media doesn’t have a count of it. The country has been spending crores of money to keep Ajmal Kasab alive, on his safety and security, but honestly, does that man deserve all these?

I can’t help myself not to criticize the judicial system of our nation. A person who killed 166 innocent people with machine guns; who as per the court waged war against the country, why in the hell is he alive still? I don’t know if many are aware of this, but SI Tukaram Omble sacrificed his own life while trying to arrest Kasab alive. This is an excerpt from Wikipedia.

Baudankar says that Assistant Sub Inspector Tukaram Omble was hit by the bullets as he was the first to charge towards Kasab and his associate armed with just a stick. "All those who were with Omble survived as he stood like a shield," adds Kadam. "When we saw that Omble was not letting go of the terrorist's gun, we knew we could not let his sacrifice go in vain. He held on and we completed his unfinished task," his colleague Sanjay Govilkar said.

It’s nothing like the news of a death sentence for Kasab makes any change in my life or gives me a high, but it’s that the life and sacrifice of brave men like SI Omble goes down the lane worthless in the present situation. The loop-holes in our Judiciary that keeps him alive even today are almost making fun of the sacrifices of those valiant officers. Lets hope the perpetuators of the attack gets caught, and soon the whole of terrorism gets wiped away from the face of our planet.

26/11 is now a part of history and bullet holes on the walls and the scars in the hearts of Mumbaikars shall remain forever. The least we can do is to be better citizens of this vibrant nation. For a nation which has had to face many unfortunate challenges like the terrorist attacks, cross-border insurgency and interior Naxalism, it’s a shame that our politicians are adding on to the woes by stupid scams and scandals, which becomes bigger & filthier every next time.

The Ashok Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield, during peace time. 15 Police men and 2 NSG commandos lost their lives encountering terrorists. Officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte and Tukaram Ombale and 2 NSG commando’s Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan & Havildar Gajendar Singh were awarded Ashok Chakra for their sacrifices. We salute one and all of them.

Image Courtesy - Flickr

What Men Want? Check Out!!

“What Men Wants” is a blogging contest conducted in & by Blogadda.com. What attracted me to this topic was that a search on this topic in Google returned 34 million less results compared to “What Women Wants” and so I am here trying to eliminate the deficit (Ha-ha!), and on course trying to find out a diplomatic solution to “What MEN want”!

Similar posts on the wants of Men & Women are of abundance in the blogosphere and one obvious thing are the lists, specifying points as in men liked to do this and not this, men wanted this and not this, men meant this and not this. C’mon, how it is that one can describe the nature of more than 3 billion people through a list of likes & dislikes.

Then the genuine question is what is it that I can present, which differs from others, and still gives at least a hazy idea of what men really wanted. I can only write on what I want, and that may or may not be a real reflection or the real answer to the question. Suddenly the filaments of the so called bulb in my brain sparked and resulted in it shining at over a 1000 Watts!

ASK QUESTIONS!!!

Wow! That ain’t a bad idea. I mean, I can go on and ask this question as in a survey to people around me, Men of course, and see what they have to say. It also makes better sense considering it will be Men’s choices and not ‘a’ Man’s.

So this is what I heard from my friends.

The first one says. “Women...Money…Enjoyment!! …a big life…with lots of dreams…money…more money…lots of people…partying…want to share moments with family…and yeah, of course…you know it!! (The S-word)” So, I asked him, on the kind of girl he dreamt… “A pretty one, traditional, loyal, friendly, patient…and with a long hair…” And he had a giggle saying the long hair.

The second one went on like this… “I want to hit to gym for ever, a fit body always! Then, a beautiful girl, with a pretty pair of legs” On things other than girls, he said “I want to be able to sleep as much, have a nice job, high salary, less working hours, enjoyable life, a Lamborghini, enough n more time to enjoy, and a beautiful wife”. He adds he wants to have multiple dates with hot ladies in town, the dream girl of everyone. Well, I can say he might travel to the moon, but not his last wish.

Another guy was a bit different. He said he wanted to travel a lot, before adding onto the lady-part. He said “I want to travel around a lot…” and later added… “I want 2 kids, the elder one girl and the younger one a boy. A home beside the sea, a small one though. A wife who’s elder, say 5-15 years older than him.” He got some conditions too “She shouldn’t smoke and drink. Well…drink, occasionally okay, but not at home.” According to him an elder girl takes better care of you, much like a baby. Not a bad one.

So what is to be understood from what we’ve heard now? From the opinions and voices of Men from different nations, who have different sets of minds? Everyone wants a girl, a lovely relationship. They dream high and aspire for a grand house and fat-fat pay cheques. They want fun in their lives and wish to share them with families. They want racy cars and want to see the world.

So the question that crosses my mind now is, are all these the wants of just men? If a lovely relationship is the want of men, what is it that women want? If money and grand houses are what men’s wishes, do women dream of being broke & homeless? Ain’t having a family and living the life out with them as much a women’s wish as it is for men? So what is the big fuss of what women want and what men want? As I believe it, it’s not the gender that defines wishes, but personality and character. A person with a very serious outlook about life may have a set of things that he wanted in life, irrespective of him being an M/F. Another set of people who always sees the funny side in a life might want different things in their life; and here too, I don’t see the gender/sex defining a line that differentiates the wants or the aspirations of both.

Personally I feel the question very stupid and the truth is that many of the blogs which points out things that men like, women like and what we don’t like are only good to have laugh about. They are only good to you if you are a film director and you want an easy method to describe your characters, the female lead in a ‘Girly way’ and the hero as a ‘Macho Man’, for in real life, follow your instincts or you are paving your own path to troubled days.

The funniest thing about the question is, when I asked my friends “What do you want, as a Man”, they all jumped back on to me, shouting “Women & *** !!!”, as if answering a Rapid-Fire round for a gift hamper.

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