Sunday, March 19, 2006

3. HUMAN BOMBS

In the fiction ‘The Negotiator’, by Fredrick Forsyth when in the last pages the hostage is blasted by a remote control, it made a chill pass through my body. It all sounded so scary. But within few days from reading such a fictitious account, in the very same way Rajiv Gandhi was brutally assassinated. When details of the assassination came to light what surprised me was how can anybody be motivated to push the trigger to explode oneself. Moreover during investigations almost everyday there was the photograph of Dhanu, the human bomb, clicked just a few seconds before she pushed or pulled the trigger. She was all smiles in those snaps. There is no tinge of fear or shadow of death on her face. She looked so cheerful. How is it possible for a person to be so cheerful when facing death so close? Would they have been doped? A person selected for such a crucial mission cannot be served with dope and so that is ruled out. Then what could be the other factors? Brain washing is another theory. Even when some one might have gone through great ordeals, just for revenge will anyone kill themselves? Assuming that Dhanu, the assassin was personally affected by India’s IPKF, assuming that she lost all she held dear to her because of IPKF and assuming that all her anger and animosity was nurtured against the Prime Minister of India, still can a person’s vengeance could go beyond ones own life. And, when one is so sure that he or she is going to die in a few more seconds how can he or she be so normal? So what triggers such people to push the fatal button of ultimate self destruction? It is an enigma.

In the7/7 London explosions, all the three ‘live detonators’ were from a normal background. No precedence of criminal behavior in their records. Just a short sojourn to Pakistan. Now, within such a short span how could they be molded so differently to convert themselves as human bombs. Are human minds so meek to be changed so thoroughly? Can any body’s religiosity be whipped up so much making them so fanatic in a jiffy. It all surprises me.

Of course now all of us have gone to the next stage of accepting these instances as regular features in our daily lives. It could be anywhere in the world. Only if you don’t get a news item in the front page of your daily about any such bombing in any part of the world is a news now. 9/11 has become one of the most important dates in the history of mankind. And the dates of such importance are to be followed, it seems. If 7/7 is followed by 9/11, will the next be far beyond? Where will all this lead us to?

2. TRAFFIC: INDIAN & U.S. STYLES

It was quite past midnight; should be about 1.30 to 2 am. I was
tracking back to my room after a party. I have to be careful, I thought. Since in the evening on the way to the party I missed my way. Though it was a small village of 8000 as its total population, that too, nearly 75% of them being local college students, with straight roads and by lanes cutting at right angles, with large trees on the sides of the roads, individual houses were not easily visible or identifiable with lot of vegetation covering every house. So when I ventured a little in the previous evening to while away a few minutes – I wanted to be right in time for
the party and not before time – I missed my way and was lost for some
time. I don’t want that to happen now late in the night. So I was trudging carefully- the path was also very moist with snow – back home. At last I arrived the main downtown-area. This was a well lit area with four roads radiating. The automatic signals were on. When I reached the junction there was a car waiting for the change of signal. The little inebriation I had evaporated at the sight of it. Because the whole area was deserted; no vehicles or anything on sight but still the man behind the wheels was waiting for the signal before proceeding.

This thing happened in a village, Oberlin, Ohio, U.S., 2 years back.

And on another day I was waiting in another signal. The place was Saidapet
intersection, Chennai, India. Time was 9.20 am.

In the morning peak hour there was a heavy rush and at the junction I
was waiting for the green signal. The automatic digital clock showed 100
and so I put off the engine of my vehicle. When the clock read 10 I
ignited my machine and thought I have another full 10 second count-down.
Voila! Even when 7 seconds remaining, vehicles started moving at mad
pace and though I wanted to wait for green signal, with blaring and
threatening movements from behind I had to jump light to avoid getting jumped over!

Laws will be there. But two things are necessary: one, the will of the
people to have at least a modicum of respect for the law of the land;
and second: the executors of the laws should do what they have to.

1. MY CONFESSION & WARNING...


WELCOME TO MY ENGLISH BLOG
for those of you who have walked into this trap inadvertently or willingly.

I cannot wish you "A HAPPY READING" since this blog is going to have my personal ramblings, ramblings of an oldie. Any skeletal frame of an oldie would make a lot of sounds; it would whimper and whine; creak and croon. When these sounds may not even be pleasing for the individual himself, I wonder, how is it going to be the one sitting next. So could be going thru this blog. But do you think I can help it?

I had an English blog for some time and after starting one another in my mother tongue, Tamil all my time and energy went into that, orphaning the first one. Now, since a new compiler, BLOGDESAM has come into being, I thought I would rejuvenate the earlier one and stuff this new blog with my old contents and keep adding further with the 'vast' experience I have acquired with my Tamil blog standing behind me!

Let me have a gala time 'at your expense' a little! Right...