Break the Habit....

If it is the habit of the leaders of a country to cover up their mistakes, then break the habit. If it is the habit of the politicians to play the blame game, then break the habit. If it is the habit of the Intelligence groups to play safe at the cost of losing lives, then break the habit.

Our country needs to be prudent enough to be prepared for such outrageous attacks on innocent people in advance. And if they fail in that, they atleast need to promptly respond to the stimulus when terror breaks out in an unimaginable manner. If they are not able to convert any one of these, then they just need to quit and give the compass to others who can handle it. There is no hierarchy of power, no balance of information, no availability of resources, no preemptive efforts and no cooperation from the high command. If the attacks on Mumbai are what the Government is waiting to tighten their Intelligence, Law and Order then it is a shame on them. If they are not able to see beyond the invisible, then how are they different from the common man?

My home is no more a safe place for me to stay! Where do I take shelter then? It is extremely disgraceful to watch the foreigners dread to come to our country. I feel like an untouchable when guests are just leaving my home and going away. The trauma that each hostage faced is incomprehensible. Every second is like a million years for them. But on the outside for the people who are supposed to protect a million years is like a second! Why should the NSG wait until morning 11:00 am to go to the battle field? Why should the M-17s be deployed only 24 hours after the attack?

For me it is no more the Prime Minister or the Home Minister who are in control. The situation reflects the media having the utmost concern for the victims. It is they who actually are on their toes to rise to the occasion. If they can keep the people aware and sympathize with them, if they can make conclusions and draw solutions, then why cannot the Home Minister have the minimum courtesy to do so? Amidst these chaos and frantic fears it is the opportunistic politics that leaders can think of. The mediocre speech delivered by the PM had nothing in it. Not a word of comfort, not a word of assurance! Expecting just a line from my very own leader is a big joke!

Our pledge says and I quote “To my country and my people, I pledge my devotion. In their well being and prosperity alone, lies my happiness” I hope the Home Minister acts like a citizen at the least. He seems to be happy in our ill being and destruction alone! What protection was he able to give to the ATS Chief? How can he send a 56 year old man dressed in a formal blue shirt and black trousers into the war zone? These people should be the master minds behind the operation and make things happen. Their duty is to run the show and not to play the game. Now how invaluable has it turned out to have lost him. Can you get back the experience, exposure and knowledge lost? Do you see Osama Bin Laden coming and fighting anywhere? Do you see the Al Qaeda or the Lashkar chiefs coming into the battle fields? They steer the rod, they maneuver the troops.

Where is the distribution of power? Where are the secured guidelines? Where is the integrity? Where is the coordination of groups? Where is the use of technology? How can we tackle the terrorists if we take a back seat in using the most modern infrastructure to counteract them? The terrorists make the best use of all the available resources to keep themselves well equipped and well informed at all times. If they are smart then we need to be smarter and that is how it works!

It is time to break the habits of those lapses in security, intelligence, law and order. Give the people in command what they need. Give them the power to take decisions independently and swiftly. Give them the authority to handle situations in their own way while monitoring them. Structure the Intelligence personnel and allot defined duties and responsibilities. Delay is poison and it will only make the infection worse and eventually fatal! This incident is going to change the world view of our country. I cannot fathom the isolation that we will have to face for the coming years. The damage caused in the minds of those country men and outsiders can turn out to be irreparable.

Power, knowledge, determination and accountability alone can instill a sense of security among the citizens. It is better to fix the disease in the early stages than mess up in the advanced conditions. The diagnosis needs to be done and transformed into complete solutions. Let today be a hard and strong reminder of our faults and a lighthouse to direct our future.

I wish...

I wish the night would end now,
I am dying to see the dawn…
Wallowing in my fears, hanging in hope
My reality is my only nightmare
I can’t succumb anymore to this pain
When is the day of deliverance?
The moon and stars are lovely
Lo! Their light is drowned in my darkness
I can’t wait any longer to see the day
Oh! It’s the next revulsion of this life
Yet another day of dismay passes by…….

I am struggling to hold back my tears
The fear of the future is weaker than
The power derived from my past….
I am a soldier but I am also human
I fight unto death and I fight for life
There is no mine; it’s all yours…..
There is no turning back until death….
Tired of washing the blood of my fingers
I am today; there may not be a tomorrow….

Quantum of Discomfort!

After the retirement of Pierce Brosnan as the Bond, there was very little motivation for me to go and watch Daniel Craig. Though I watched Casino Royale which has had very li'l bonding to my good books, me and my bro went on to "Quantum of Solace". The driving factor was the critics rating that was 7.6! However I did not find it worth more than a 5.5..Are you alarmed? Well even so was I...

Too much of talking, relatively less action and kinda creepy sentiment which made it all the more drab! It was vengeance for his so called love in the previous movie but I was all the while so confused! I dint make head or tail until half time and was expecting for something to actually break through after the break! But I still had to break my head!

There is hardly anything that stands out..even the much hyped Bond theme for the season given by Alicia Keys and Jack White also did not seem to impress me...All in all it was an OK types of movie with not much to be considered except for the hard work put in by Craig to make a mark. He might be a topic for the critics but does not seem to be the Bond that people like me watch out for!