India Irked! [Part III]

Citizen Cognizance

In today’s troubled times, the air is rife with mixed emotions of fear, hope, anger, frustration, helplessness, loss of faith and skepticism. As the noted industrialist, Srichand Hinduja pointed out recently; maybe it all happened for the larger good of world society. Indians were not the only ones killed in the attacks. Some visitors from the rest of the world also lost their lives and some more were very grievously injured. All those who survived and went through the trauma in the line of fire will carry the nightmarish experience all their lives.

The corrupt politicians always will continue to harbor their vested interests, the media will tend to be crass, the blame games will continue but at the top of it all, the emergence of a world code to snuff out terrorism is vital. To my mind, this emerges from the average person on the street.

As Citizens of India and the world at large, we need to be Cognizant.

The global society indeed did wake up for the first time to the carnage at Mumbai albeit it was ravaged with mindless acts in the past. This time around the difference was that the enemy was there to see as the acts of terror were unleashed on innocence.

India was plundered and pillaged many times so in a way, the rape of our nation has been a continual occurrence. But in a more stoic sense, we hid the scars and moved on without a whimper. But not anymore!

Every Indian should take it upon themselves to watch their back. The average person on the street should be more aware of their responsibilities towards the larger interests of society. We should stop disrespecting ourselves by making sure we adhere to the rules of the land. So hopefully, we will witness a lot less lawlessness on the streets. Fewer traffic lights being jumped, lesser road rage, better civic sensibilities, etc. A lot of self tuning will need to be done by each of us. Indians are proud people but somehow, the pride gets buried in diversity.

We need to be…
~ Cognizant of our Responsibilities towards our Society (and not just for ourselves),
~ Cognizant of the Reality of the Threat(s),
~ Cognizant of the Gravity of the Resolve we make as People of India,
~ Cognizant of the fact that Nothing is to be Ever Forgotten,
~ Cognizant of having the Grit to Give it Back,
~ Cognizant of Safeguarding ourselves,
~ Cognizant of Civil Citizenship.

The mayhem that unfolded across 10 odd locations in Mumbai and on India that fateful Wednesday night will remain etched in the minds of all of us.

Let’s remain Cognizant!

Jai Hind!