Hate and Courage-the two opposite twins born to Fear

"Courage is not the absence of fear", someone has said. Fear however is the root of all problems. Fear has two reactions- one a short term knee-jerk reaction and another a long term reaction. Like most short term things, the instant reaction is short and non-sustainable. The long term (re)action on the other hand takes a longer time to start and give results. Hate is the short-term reaction and difficult to sustain which is why most terrorists at some point surrender or become mercenaries- no longer driven by hate but by habit and lack of options.

The long term answer is true courage-a positive emotion and one that is not really a reaction but more a state of being. "A courageous person does not need a terrorist to be courageous however a terrorist essentially breeds only in a pool of fear and terror" This reminds me of that incident about Abraham Lincoln. When he went to meet wounded soldiers from the confederate army in the hospital, a lady chided him saying that they were enemies who should be destroyed. To this, Lincoln's reply- an illustration of courage was: "Lady, do I not destroy them when I make them my friends?"

Courage however is difficult. It requires all those virtues that our parents tried to instill in us. It requires patience, perseverance and even a lot of forgiving. To quote Kipling from his poem 'If':

"If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating...."

I think that is what courage is about. Its about thinking things through, analysing the siutation without bias and then deciding on a course of action. Its about not letting others manipulate you into action often hasty and counter productive but working out a course of action which not only solves the problem but makes you stronger as a result!

Thus courage is not terror attacks by Hindus but a strengthening of our faith, beliefs and our ability to grow.

And most importantly it is most definitely NOT business as usual. In fact it is a systematic change not just in business but in lifestyle and principles.

Enough of the Mumbai Spirit!

Yah, enough of it cause Mumbai's indomitable spirit has been used and abused too many times now. Our ability to get back up on our feet and carry on has carrried on enough. Now I would like the politicians of this country (who somehow never figure in terror casualties.. even in the Parliament attack they were ironically spared) to take responsibility. Make every corporator, MLA, MP and minister accountable for the terror attacks that happen in their areas. Let's have a law which says that all the ruling politicians who have even a single terror attack in their constituency, automatically cannot stand for elections next time from anywhere! Impractical? Overreactive? Unfair. I don't care. Life hasn't been fair to Mumbaikars has it? Nor has it been fair to the understaffed, underpaid, under-equipped and overworked policeforce. Let these netas feel the heat for a change. Let's all question, not just the intelligence networks but the leaders we elect. Each and every one of them should be taken to task- made responsible. Lets terrorise the netas so that they do their job to serve and protect us
And let's not, at least this time make it business as usual!