Is it really over?

The media, the armed forces, the government... they all declared it over. All hostages were freed, the guests evacuated, and the terrorists killed.

I've managed to finally turn the television off after almost three days.
Have had a zillion thoughts going on in my head... and not sure if I can even articulate them as I sit down to write this post.

Like almost everyone, my emotions have gone the full circle - outrage, shock, anger, horror... and now that all of this is over, I only feel cold rage which intensifies with every story that I hear of the horror that unfolded inside the Taj and Oberoi Trident. From 'group shootings' to shooting pregnant women, these men committed heinous and savage acts - one after the other.

The news channels kept reporting the events as 'War on Mumbai' - was it really about Mumbai? Was it not about us as a society with Mumbai just happening to be the delivery location? My best friend who has had a defence upbringing was talking about how it took ALL the armed and other trained forces of the country to fight a handful of men. And how it spells doom for the country when you these forces have to be fighting like this for security.

I don't know what to do to make this rage go away. I don't want us to be resilient anymore. I want us to bounce back but not with the same tolerant (complacent?) attitude. Above all, I don't want to feel helpless anymore.

Justice for Soumya

I only knew of her through a friend, but I can't come to terms with the gruesome way in which she was murdered. Yes, there are murders being committed every day and at some level we shrug it off as 'news'... maybe the fact that this happened to someone I knew makes it all the more difficult to deal with. Who did this? Why?? What did she do that deserved such treatment?...

What I fear most is that very soon this will become just another case lost somewhere in the archives of police records, while the person who did this continues to walk freely.

An online petition has been created to be passed on the Home Minister of India. I urge everyone to sign up and contribute in whatever way you can.

http://www.petitiononline.com/soumyav/petition.html

Also, see the two Facebook groups created by her friends and colleagues:


Justice for Soumya

Rest in Peace Soumya

On Soulmates

So as the story goes, us mortals were originally combined - four arms, four legs, and two faces, but our power was beginning to scare Zeus so he split us up, and condemned us to spend our lives searching for the other half to complete us.

When I first heard the theory behind soulmates, the romantic in me completely fell for it. What a beautiful thought - you spend your life searching for THE ONE. And imagine what would happen when the two halves did meet... fireworks, sparks, and loads of other chemical reactions, I suppose.

That was the romantic in me. At some point, the realist in me did surface and scoff at the entire theory, but the romantic managed to supress the noise!

Thinking about it realistically... does this actually happen, specially in today's context? The ONE that you end up with - is it because of destiny, or because of a choice you both made based on various factors?

And, is it even possible for a man and woman to be soulmates? I mean, given all the differences between men and women - (somehow all women seem to have the same complaints of men and all men seem to have the same problems of women!) - is it really possible for two people of opposing genders to understand each other at the level that soulmates are expected to?
Hell, the only person I say that about (understands me completely) is my best friend (and vice versa)! And she and I both also simultaneously add that we are also exceptions as far as friends go!!

I think I am quite beginning to like Monica (from FRIENDS)'s POV here* - "You find someone, you're in a relationship, and you work hard at it. Somedays you work a LOT harder (read: When the man is way tooo trying for you! :P), but you get past things!"

*Scoff all you want, but trust me, FRIENDS makes SO much of sense at SO many different levels!

Resurrection...

... back into the online world!
It's ironic that my first post of the year is actually when the year is almost half over.
What's more ironic is that is hiatus of sorts came when the year has been extremely action-packed and eventful...
Well, I guess my blog activity is inversely proportional to the activities happening in my life, and hopefully, this is the start of the much-acclaimed balance!

Here's an update of sorts on what I've been upto in the online-o-sphere:

• Actioning 'facebook' requests! - You have NO idea how much of a stress factor my pending notifications and requests have been! So after two nights of concentrated effort, I've managed to clear out all my facebook requests! (Truthfully though, I did lose patience after I got them down to 25 from 100-something, after which I just ignored the pending requests! My apologies to all of you who had sent me those requests!)
• Rediscovering facebook! - I had sworn off social networking sites sometime in December... However, I discovered and then rediscovered facebook, and have to admit, I have a whale of a time on it. What I do feel really bad about though is how it has replaced good ol' communication with some friends (my bone of contention with social networking sites).
• Playing Hangman! - An addiction I didn't know I had, and discovered thanks to facebook! My evenings are now incomplete without a few rounds!