Bombings in India

If this computer was less shitty, I would do links. But google it, it’s all over the news.

I blogged about bombings in Bangalore a few days ago. (Scroll down). Around the same time, there were bombings in Ahmedabad that killed some 51 people, and left 100s injured. There was a bomb hoax threat in Kerala this past Monday that freaked out a bunch of folks. I don’t have a television, so I hear of the news when somebody calls me and I read about it in the newspapers. For my personal safety, my worry level is zero to non-existent. But what I do worry about is how this poisons the overall political and social climate in India. This may sound a tad high-faluting. But. As someone who travels both within and outside India fairly frequently, it matters. The paranoia or complacency of police officials, airport staff, bus drivers, auto-wallahs, the general public matter when it comes to moving one’s body around in places that you don’t fully have a grasp of yet. Of course, I also worry that it will keep happening, and that another Mumbai train bombing type thing will happen.

I am also generally disgusted by the sheer ennui of the Indian police and state officials. I am generally disgusted by these folks period. But post-bombings, my necessary dependence on their intelligence and watchfulness feels hazardous. What I am grateful for is the generally calm and collected Indian public. There is a deliberate and uncomplicated “moving-on-with-life-as-normal”, but with an added eye towards basic safety. There are no rushes to build bunkers, no storing of water and non-perishable food items, no panicked phone calls to the police about that suspicious turban-headed/dark-skin/cotton-eyed/muslim/hindu/ anyones. It’s really comforting.

~ by Sonia on July 29, 2008.