Wilted Times

I was watching the news the other day, and something that a news reader said really caught my attention. She was reporting the recent blast in Ahmedabad, which left 1 person dead, and having a conversation with a reporter on site. She asked, "So what do you think, was it just another terrorist attack, a crude bomb accident or a mere cylinder burst?". Hmmm. Just another terrorist attack. The casual tone with which this was said left me zapped. Is this what we've come to? Are terrorist attacks such a common fact of life that we're discussing them like we'd talk about the proceedings of a reality show? Is it so common for people to die in these frequent acts of violence, that their deaths are just reduced to being statistics on a news bulletin? I'm disgusted and appalled.

In the last one week itself, I have seen news about 4 bomb blasts in 3 different cities in India. First Delhi, then Ahmedabad, then Delhi again and yesterday, I freshly heard about blasts in Malegaon, Maharashtra. Is this what our future looks like? Are the bomb blast stories going to be so common that they won't even make it to the headlines? Is there going to be a page in the newspaper titled, "Terrorist attacks of the Day"? I don't think we're far from that situation at all. Terror strikes are so common now, people who hear about a bomb in my city, don't even bother to ask anymore, if anyone I know is affected. What's the point? How many times are they going to ask the same question? All we can do now is, to pray and hope that we're not personally affected by any of these attacks. But I'm sure, that day is not far, when each of us will be personally and directly be affected by these terror strikes. What then? Is that going to be the last limit? Is that going to be enough for these terrorists?

I don't fall into the category of the weak-hearted do-gooder. I'm not entirely all-truist and don't go out of my way to do extraordinary good deeds for people. I don't weep in movies, I don't look at the poor and tear up, I don't help the disabled, I don't pray for victims of the blasts, I don't volunteer at hospitals, I've never donated blood, I've never educated a child. In short, I'm not the kind of person who cries at a stranger's pain. But today, I ache. My heart is in pain and my mind is in agony. So much pain, so much suffering...what for? I'm seeking a reason...I'm looking for a motive...I want to know why?

I don't get it. Maybe I'm too fickle or too soft, but I just don't get it. What is a good enough reason to take innocent lives? What cause can be so big, that the common man needs to die for it? What do people get out of defacing someone for life? What good can come off killing someone's brother, sister, father, mother, husband, wife, friend, companion? What kind of a heart does a person need to have to drop off a device that would, in an instant, change or end the lives of hundreds? I only have questions, the answers evade me.

These are the only words that come to me right now...

Changing times, rocky souls,
crimson, black, grey and finally white,
flooding eyes, broken hearts,
burnt dreams, and shredded homes.
Fearful lives, hateful deeds,
mourning mothers, early deaths,
panic stricken hands, detached limbs,
lost loves and tearful goodbyes.
Flickering hope, damaged faith,
the reasons still buried deep,
man hates another, another hates too,
The end lost, the light now dimmed...