Mummy,
You stood by me when no one else did,
You held my hand and gave me the courage I always needed
You smiled with me when I smiled
You never cried with me but gave me the moral support as my best guide

I owe everything I am to you
You were always there for me through and through
I know I havent said this enough
But you are a teacher who is really tough

You are my best friend
And the stories I tell you will never really end
You love everyone I do like your own
For you I still havent really grown

You are my best friend, my toughest teacher and my ever reliable guide
But above all you are my MOM, my Mummy, my MEE…

You are the best thing that happened to me .. and I love you so darn much!!!!!

It was a regular day.. I woke up late, made a mental note that I should call my parents the next day to wish them on their Anniversary, skipped breakfast - was too lazy to make anything and finally took the auto from Kandivilli to reach office. I reached office and again had an unmemorable day, absolutely nothing that I can remember till about 6:45 PM on 11th July 2006.

A little before 7 PM my client Simon, a very nice man, catches me on Instant Messenger and asks me if all is well in Mumbai. Now, in all the time I worked with Simon I know him as a person who always has his facts clear, is pretty straight-forward and considerate. So obviously I knew something was wrong. Before even answering him I got up from my seat and fired a random question at my colleagues “You know guys; Simon is asking me if all is fine in Mumbai. Any idea why he is asking such a strange question?” One of them blurts out “He probably had a nightmare or well maybe a nice dream were we are all hijacked or something.” Another says “He probably is going to ask you to complete that impossible project after the usual courtesies” and well the jokes and ridiculous assumptions flowed in.

While all this usual office nonsense talk was happening someone logged into cnn.com and there it was the news flashing about the 11 minutes of hell, bomb blasts in the lifeline of Mumbai - the trains! We just couldn’t believe what we read, everything came to a stand-still and people frantically started calling their near and dear ones.

Obviously just when something goes wrong everything goes wrong and the phone lines were jammed as well. The next 30 minutes that we spent in office unable to reach people, traumatized by all that we read, uncertainty about who did and why they did it… was hell …as hell can be. At around 7:30 PM the office was officially closed and we were all asked to take the office bus home. We sat there waiting patiently in the bus while the guards went rounds in the office to ensure that everybody left. When the bus was just about to start the bus drivers let us know that it would probably take 2-3 hours to reach our destinations because the roads were blocked with the enormous traffic flowing in. The agonizingly slow journey back home started.

Staring at the crowded roads and the empty faces stuck in the traffic jams, I kept thinking to myself, “Why would somebody do this?”, “What the hell did he gain by killing innocent lives?”, “Did he escape?”, “Can he live with himself after what he did?”, “Did his parents or family know?”. And then something struck me…..something I can never forget. There were 1000’s of people stuck in traffic devastated and frustrated and with no way out. But there were 100’s more who were on the streets out of choice. These people were the residents of those areas coming out of their homes with biscuits, bread, water, chocolates and anything that can be served. They walked miles ensuring that they offered food and water to every single person stuck there and more importantly they ensured to have a bright smile when they did it. I couldn’t take my eyes of them and my mind has that scene pictured as freshly as I saw it yesterday. There were no news channels that covered them, not many people thanked them and nobody sponsored the food and water but they just did it. Where else in the world would this happen? I can vouch “NO WHERE”. People would have much rather preferred to stay in the comfort of their homes, watching TV, cribbing about the political status, cursing the terrorists and eating hot parathas (popcorn!)

I was touched in a way that I have never been. Who says Mumbai was brought down to its knees? Do they know Mumbai and have they seen it the way I have?
Mumbai is the city that gave me my first job,
Mumbai is the city that gave me my independence
Mumbai is the city that introduced me to my husband
Mumbai is the city that gave me some adorable friends
Mumbai is the city that has given so many things to so many people
Mumbai is the city that never sleeps
Mumbai is the city were life bounces back no matter how you try to stop it

Mumbai is so many things but it is not a city that takes defeat. With each attack Mumbai just grows stronger, better and more united.

It is extremely unfortunate that Mumbai gets beaten every time for no rhyme or reason and I am terribly sad and angry that were not able to prevent this. This time India should not let go and should punish the force behind these attacks.

PS: The next day after this unfortunate event my Mom manages to call me and I wished my parents “Happy Anniversary” after she gave a sigh of relief that we were safe. While putting the phone down I said “Mummy, I love you” and for the first time my mom responded back “I love you too”.