Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Hope, Faith & Fear...

Motherhood introduced me to a gamut of emotions. One of them is Fear. I have never been paranoid or afraid of anything. But this bundle of joy showed me what it means to be paranoid and scared.

It was while checking out schools and day care that a facet of the fear slapped me in the face. Turns out that children having single mothers, divorced parents is a very common thing. And its the norm that the child is in the cust
ody of the mother. Also common is the father & his parents and relatives turning up at the school to meet the child, without the mothers knowledge or permission, irrespective of having visitation rights. I was informed in detail the kinds of measures taken to ensure that the child is not in unwanted hands. " What if they feed the child something or take the child away without our knowing... what if something happens to the child! " this thought spoken out aloud by one of the managers in a school, chilled me to the bone. Needless to say I have strict instructions at her school, and am always testing them to see if they follow through.

And now I know another kind of deep rooted
fear. All thanks to the Mumbai Mayhem. I'm terrified of taking her out anywhere. Keep thinking what if it was us in one of the rooms. What would I have fed her for 3 days. Would we have been lucky? My bag always has different foods for her, a snack and a fruit. I always keep a little extra. She always eats every 2 hours, so she is forever munching. During the mayhem, we had to attend a wedding at Lalit Mahal Palace Hotel, I was petrified. Would they think of attacking another city while one was under siege? What kind of security is in place? And it is then I realized, that I had lost my faith in the government, in the system.

Why was there such a huge intelligence failure? Why is there no crisis management in place? Why are our armed forces paid a pittance while our leaders are paid the sky? Is there no competent person who can be an effective, responsible and sensitive people's representative in the real sense? All of us need and ensure th
at our homes are secure, our leaders go to enormous lengths to ensure that they and their homes have high levels of security. Why can the same not be done for the land that we live in, for the country that we live in? Why do the leaders shy away from their job? Our leaders have a responsibility towards us, the very people who elected them in place. It is because of their high-handedness, insensitivity and uncaring attitude that our country in such a pathetic condition. The British started the divide and rule policy, and our politicians have perfected it.

And brings me to the most important question, that has been on my mind ever since it started. Who do I vote for now? I don't understand how a 49-O will help, except to ensure that no proxy vote happens.

A crazy thought ? -- Is it possible that the earlier Mumbai train blasts and the Bangalore blasts were trail runs, to check the response time?

I have lost all faith, yet have a glimmer of hope that this will not be repeated. I want to give my daughter a secure life, not just from me, but also from our country electives. How long does one stay cooped up at home, not venturing at any public space. How long does one live in terror and fear. All of us have to die one day, but a death forced upon like this is terrible. Living in fear is equally terrible. The terrorists set out to put fear in us, they might have succeeded for a bit but no way can they ingrain it in us, so that we stop living.




In loving memory of those who gave their lives so that many more could live. May their soul rest in peace.






And salutes to all
the rescuers. and for all those who do not vote, are not registered, Jaago Re. Lets do something, go and vote. Each one of us can make a difference. India needs it.

16 comments:

Meira said...

A little bit of hope and we'l go a long way in making way for a better place. :)
Lets do make it a better place.
Take care

Anonymous said...

I understand what you say when you write about paranoia and fear after becoming a mum. That way, A did change my life. His van did not come an hour after the scheduled time from school today...I call the school, the lady there was so inconsiderate saying "Oh the parent is hyper and yelling to another colleague not even bothering to put me on hold!" I yelled back saying let me know what you would do if it were your kid!
I am flummoxed too about what can be done. It is not like we have a great dedicated set of politicians to choose from. One is as rotten as the other, still hope we must, vote we must. Lay more faith on our armed forces and allied services than these corrupt, selfish politicians. Not debate about rations to those who actually do their jobs....
Well written imp's mom :)

Indian Home Maker said...

I also felt a different kind of fear when my daughter was born ... but now our babies are becoming our reason to fight for peace.
'Why are our armed forces paid a pittance while our leaders are paid the sky?'is another important point. We also pay our IAS (most corrupt) much more than we pay our soldiers, and it seems they have been fighting against this disparity, but the decision makers are the concerned party (babus).

Imp's Mom said...

@ meira: hope for a better tomorrow and working towards is all we have, don't we :)

@ apar: True!

@ IHM: Everybody is corrupt.god i hate the "babus" its so depressing, having no worthy leader!

Mampi said...

Fear, insecurity...yes, for these children.
But at the same time, our animal instinct of protecting our kids is at the best at the moment. We can make a difference and I am sure we will-this time.
Brilliant post. The way the fear factor got transitioned from the familial to the global was amazing. Your writing always has me inspired but this one was a different kind of stuff.

Anonymous said...

I was kinda happy to see the new wave of awakening that people seem to have after this incident..but then i heard that kerela CM's remark..i mean what is happning !

Imp's Mom said...

@mampi: i sure hope so we make a difference..fingers crossed

and thank you.

@samby: Its the people who have woken up to the reality, our leaders they are the same insensitive, uncaring abt the common man. And Welcome!

Shilpa said...

hey Imp's mom,
thanks for dropping by.

I think the massacre that happened in Mumbai has affected the psyche of almost every Indian. After reading so many analysis articles and reports, I keep thinking my turn is next. Terrorism has become an accepted way of life - like the floods, the tsunami - only this one is made by ruthless, perverted human minds.

I hope peace is bestowed upon everyone.

Hope!
Shilpa

Imp's Mom said...

@shilpa: my pleasure :)

you are right, terrorism has become an accepted way of life...natural calamity cannot be stopped but those by human's can be and should be stopped. Wonder what else is it going to take for that day to come!

Anonymous said...

ohh.. I am sorry i posted with a wrong account.. I am the army guy..


thearmyguyspeaks.wordpress.com

;)

Imp's Mom said...

@samby/the army guy: ahhh...that solves the "profile not available" wonder :P

no probs, happens all the time.. Welcome, nonetheless :)

Serendipity said...

Isnt Babbai Bengali for dad?

Imp's Mom said...

@Serendipity: Honestly I have no clue, don't know Bengali at all... Babbai here denotes the first words spoken by my imp, when she couldn't say ma...so anytime she wanted to call me she would say babbai, varying intensity known through the tone :) and i am going to stop right here, else this will turn out to be a mini post :) Thanks for visiting. Do come again..

Serendipity said...

lol. I had a Bong friend, who called his dad Babbai. Hence the Q. :)

Will watch your space! :)

Usha Pisharody said...

There is beautiful old Indian saying, that goes, "We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we merely borrow it from our children".
And it is for them that we need to ensure that safer, more secure tomorrow. But how close, if at all, are we to doing it?
Children make you more vulnerable that you ever have felt before. And that is something that will stay with you till the end :) But most often its a good feeling to have. Of course when bad things happen, the terror strikes deep!

Discerning post!

Imp's Mom said...

@ Usha: "We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we merely borrow it from our children". this is so true... if only the great masterminds also believed it!