Bomb Blasts in Mumbai

The blasts in Mumbai last week left everyone wondering why people do such horrendous things. It was a sad plight to watch the images on TV or the net. I was sick to my stomach looking at the blood stained clothes and injured faces of the innocents victims of the blasts. It was a reminder of the blasts that took place in Mumbai in 1993. I know some of my relatives and friends who were lucky to have escaped death just by a few minutes or seconds then n this time. The first reaction knowing that your friends, relatives and acquaintances are alright is a sigh of relief; but at the same time you feel sorry for those who lost lives for no fault of theirs.

How can people endanger so many lives when they have no right to do so? Why do people take such drastic steps? What makes them forget humanity? Afterall they too are related to someone. How would their parents feel if they were the victims? Don't they have any concern at all for other people?

Last week after the blasts, many others like me (who stay out of India), were trying to get in touch with our near and dear ones via phone / email. Phone being the easiest and fastest means to communicate, I tried calling Mumbai but to no avail. The lines were jammed and I could not contact anyone out there. Most of my friends and relatives too couldn't. I heard somewhere that the the telephone lines had been temporarily cut off for fear of spreading rumours about the death toll. If this is true, I wonder if they realise what they are doing. No one can contact their relatives and friends to check on them and neither can they call us. In such a situation, all we can do is pray for their well-being and wait for someone to contact us.

But it was so good to see the spirit of Mumbai, the unity of the "Mumbaikars". Even during the floods last year (on 26th July 2005 to be precise) we saw all the people of Mumbai helping each other in any way possible. Last week, when I switched on Zee TV after reading about the blasts on the internet, they were showing the images of the victims. There were many people who were helping others inspite of being hurt themselves. Yesterday Mumbai paid a tribute to those killed in the blasts by observing a two minute silence. The traffic took a halt, people stopped walking, planes did not take off or land for those two minutes. Hats off to the people of Mumbai! Proud to be a Mumbaikar and proud to be an Indian.

My first blog ever : Friendship n Friends

Do we really understand the meaning of friendship? Do we know whom we consider our friends are in fact our friends or mere acquaintances? How do you define friendship? Well for me, friendship means being there for your friend, having someone to share all your happiness and sorrows with. A "true friend", as we generally say, is someone whom you can count on no matter what, someone who is with you in ups n downs in your life, someone whom you can speak out your mind to without having the doubt of what he / she will think about you. There's no room for jealousy, hatred, spite in friendship. Only love, care, trust, faith helps nurture a friendship and helps it to grow.

I sure am lucky to have friends who have been there for me whenever I needed them. They were there to share my happy times n sad, to advise me, to listen to my heart n mind without having to say a word. This blog is for them; to tell them how much they mean to me and how important it is for me to have them as my friends. To the best friends one can have. Miss you guys a lot. Love you'll. Hope to meet you soon.