Shots in the dark
In Mumbai there is a hotel that sits on the water, near the financial district and the higher-end shopping, and as the Mumbaikers drive by they say proudly to the out-of-towners, that’s the Taj Hotel, it’s one of the highest-rated hotels in the world!
Tonight the Taj looked like this:
And I thought, oh no. Not again. Not my other city. Not the Taj, not the Oberoi, not Colaba where I go to buy shoes. I thought, I would like this to stop, please.
We called Mumbai, and they said they were fine. Holed up at home and not really wanting or allowed to leave, all the schools canceled and the majority of the businesses closed, but fine. And while I am so incredibly grateful that they are not hurt, and even more grateful that Mumbai is learning to keep its temper and no longer explodes in riots whenever something gets blown up, I still wish things did not blow up quite so often.
And really, I wish I could smash whatever gigantic chip these so-called Muslims have on their shoulders that they would hold a grudge for something, that while horrendous, happened in 1992. I am tired of Islam being the scapegoat for the actions of a handful of lunatics, and I resent those same lunatics for their continued insistence on upending lives and families for absolutely no reason at all. I want to line them all up and tell them, you’ve forgotten that God is watching because otherwise you would never have done this in His name, and how dare you. How dare you forget Him. How dare you do this.
Instead, I’m going to brace myself for the next time. And the next time. And to wonder, when I visit Mumbai again, how deep the scars from this latest bloodbath will be.
i’m sorry this is happening in a city you know and love, beautiful lady. and i’m sorry it’s happening in any city at all. so much heartbreak. i’m glad to know, at least, that your family and friends there are well. i hope they remain safe, inshaAllah.
yasmine
29 Nov 08 at 2:31 am
i’m really glad your family is ok. I thought of them often over the course of the situation.
Julia Wester
1 Dec 08 at 3:18 pm
asalaaam o alaikum, interesting writing of your righteous anger.
Sometimes when we ignore the oppression and anguish of the masses for very long (pavement families) untill they rise and submerge the elite few (the french revolution)
…….it is important to remember the masses and treat them well, otherwise they topple even institutions like the Mumbai (impregnable) hotel, or the monarchy of France.
The underdog has many names,sometimes it is muslim sometimes it is shudar,(untouchable), and sometimes it plain old dirt poor french people under Mary Antoinette.
Mumbai with all its riches has no excuse not to take care of the poor and the oppressed, if they had, this would never have happened, muslims so called or otherwise would not be able to incite anything, if Mumbai had taken care of its poor and oppressed.
Lets look at the reasons, not just the results. Only then can we can be proactive globally.
asqfish
30 Dec 08 at 11:51 pm