Friday, September 3, 2010

Tell tale in a line- I love India

Can anyone notice any other thing than the breathtakingly
slow traffic in Mumbai while travelling by road? I was going to
Juhu beach probably after a decade to mingle with the crowd,
to have the last appointment with the setting sun. Mumbai
was as chaotic as ever with its noise and buzz. The traffic
jam was there as usual as vehicles moving at a snail’s pace..

Looking beyond skyscrapers and shopping malls and have a
glimpses of smoky sky really tested your nerves. For a moment,
I saw something. The graffiti I noticed written on the back side
of a slowly moving critical care unit. The tell tale in a line- I love
India On it everyone you depend on, everyone you understand,
everyone you ever heard of, every human being who lived
in this country. It gave much needed relief from the moronic
OK Tata or speed and death syndrome that we usually come
across. It did ring music to my ears and I shouted “I love India’.

Sitting beside, my Mumbaiker friend looked at me and said
philosophically that everybody wondered why and, perhaps
even more, wanted a description of how. My friend continued “Is
there safety inside our mind and thoughts? We need not
invite 26/11 to raise patriotic fervor and resilience thereafter.

We are pained to see the separatist slogan- Mumbai for Marathi
Manus or cry for statehood in every part of the already dissected
India. Why can’t we stand up and be counted as Indian? I was
choked with the burden of dream- A lot can be seen in a smaller
space and the graffiti – I love India- really gives a healing touch.

The scars of Mumbai have been dissolved in resilience we

talk about. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal
more kindly with one another and remind us how keen we
are, how fervent our feelings to save us from our selfish
thought and to preserve and cherish the image of the country.

As our taxi was almost sinking on the Juhu sand, I woke up to
reality. We rushed towards the sea to feel the twilight warmth,
not to chance our luck to take refuge under the shadows of the
tree. It was vast sky above tinged with colors of the setting sun.
What’s worth living in this chaos? My friend retorted with a smile.
As we strolled by the shore, the drifting clouds reminded us the
graffiti once again and read out the tell tale in a line-I love India.

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