“Between the Two Fires” – “Life Goes on – 24X7”

Night had fallen; peace and blasting indiscriminately, and mishap of such magnitude. Anything calm prevailed. Marine Drive looked massacring innocent citizens of our being done was too little, too late. magical. Smitten by its charm, unmindful, beloved city were horrifying. I was lost in the distant horizon from But, MUMBAI WAS NOT TO BE THAT! the balcony of my apartment facing The charming city of In a short span of time of less the southern tip of Mumbai. Mumbai was inhumanely being raped than 30 days the metropolis of Mumbai by the perpetrators. It was sinfully sprang back to life, more rigorously and Hypnotized by the beauty devastating. The attack affected: much more determined. Men and women, of the seascape and the famous Art- old and young, affluent and impoverished Deco precinct popularly known as the • The Taj Mahal Hotel with its all together with their undying spirit Queen’s Necklace, the Marine Drive iconic presence as a heritage started adding more spice in the life promenade, with its iconic presence in structure and with a brilliant past, of this fabulous city. The city that was the city was overwhelming. The view • The celebrated Chhatrapati so vandalized and painfully devastated of Nariman Point beyond, with the Shivaji Terminus (formerly known returned to its old charm attempting starry lights of the Colaba settlements as Victoria Terminus), to erase all memories of the loss and in the background looked so surreal • The Trident Hotel at Nariman Point destructions so recently. Mumbai began that it was hard to believe that it was a modern piece of architecture, to move forward on the fast track sooner part of Mumbai’s otherwise harsh • The new Oberoi Hotel than later. So it was to be! With every realities. It was mesmerizing. The music adjacent to the Trident one contributing it turned into a miracle. of the all-pervading silence playing • The Cama Hospital, on one’s mind was captivating. • The Leopold café and The tell-tale visuals in the form “Between the • The Nariman House in Colaba of a photographic essay that records a Suddenly I got a jolt; out Mumbaikar’s life between the two fires; of my dream. I feared Mumbai In fact, the entire city was one represented by the fires at Trident, Two Fires” – would never be the same again. traumatized by the predators that are Taj, VT, Cama Hospital the Leopold café believed to have come from the sea. Mumbai and the other on the sands of What was happening? Several hundred men, women and Girgaum Chowpaty. The former taking “Life Goes on – It was turning hellish. 26/11 children of all hues and every strata of innocent lives and the latter giving life was creating the gloomiest history the society were butchered mercilessly and warmth to the dwellers at Chowpatty. for Mumbaikars and their city. between 26th and 29th November While photographing the fishermen’s 2008. They all were part of Mumbai’s family, a few family members, the ladies 24X7” From about 9.30 p.m. onwards, human face. This unpardonable in particular, unexpectedly turned hostile. unexpected gun shots and bomb satanic act inflicted deep wounds on Suspecting my intentions they thought I explosions were heard loud, at times the psyche of every Mumbaikar. was a Government agent creating dubious followed by flares from the firing and records of their living and encroaching fire in the distance that kept the sky lit Why and how did it happen? on the beach to be eventually de-housed up. The night’s silence was menacingly In my wisdom, without the and shooed away. With some persuasion pierced. Sadly, more was to follow. slightest doubt, it was a collective failure and by explaining my intentions, the on the part of a system that ought to have men when convinced opened up. They Inquisitive, I turned on the shielded and saved lives. The Government, narrated about their helplessness and Television “BREAKING NEWS!” The the Navy, the coast guard, the disconnect disconnect with the fabric of city of terrorists had invaded Mumbai. of the intelligence mechanisms; especially Mumbai, their predicaments about the Uttam C. Jain The accompanying visuals of the the inapt mandarins in the administration pathetic conditions they live in with Architect terrorists gunning, firing, bomb and the citizenry all are culpable for a the children and the elders, specifically 418 / 14 governance 14 / 419 lack of the basic facilities for bathing, had no place of their own elsewhere in washing, cleaning, sanitation, and privacy the city. Darting at me the fisherman for the women and what have you. All questioned, “Sir, would your publishing is appalling to witness. They had lost our photographs improve our life?’ I was their faith in the city fathers and the stunned. There was no answer to that. Government’s apathy was all humiliating. It is shocking to note that the India’s At the end I do note that financial capital has such deprivation. Mumbai has many layers of life. Each has a different meaning for different Disengaged, oblivious to the strata of the society depending on the indulgence of the upper socio-economic social banking. The values for every status of the people enjoying their individual get prioritized and modified evening out, devouring golgappas and according to each one’s perception. licking fingers covered with chaat-masala at the food stalls on the south end of All this calls for serious Girgam Chowpati, the fisherman’s family contemplation. We need to reorient felt completely marginalized and lost. ourselves to make Mumbai a very livable, Their complaint was about hardship humane city. It is imperative, now, for the family faced in Mumbai - for they the future of the next generation. 420 / 14 governance 14 / 421 422 / 14 governance 14 / 423 424 / 14 governance 14 / 425 426 / 14 governance 14 / 427 428 / 14 governance 14 / 429 430 / 14 governance Uttam C. Jain 14 / 431.

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