Helping the victims and their families

We just got this email from the kind folks at the Bombay Community Public Trust (BCPT) who we are working with to raise funds for the victims/their families. Please click here donate.

"Dear Sir/Madam,

It was heartening to receive the responses, queries, promises of support (via email, letters, telephone calls, personal visits) from individuals and companies from all over India and abroad.

BCPT has now compiled the complete list of names of victims injured and deceased and the details of next of kin with addresses in many cases. This has been compiled from different sources.

Many other NGOs and agencies are contributing in the relief and rehabilitation work with the victims and families. In order to avoid duplication of efforts, we are focusing on 70 families of the deceased and 82 injured persons. Of these, we have already contacted 56 families of the deceased and 41 injured persons and are continuing to contact the rest.

Many .of the affected persons were young adults working in the city with their families in the villages. For example, Mishrilal Morya was an auto-rickshaw driver. He lost his life in the gun fire at CST. He leaves behind a wife and three young children, the oldest 7 years old, and the youngest only 9 months old. They now have no source of income as Mishrilal was the only earning member of the family. His elderly parents were also dependent on him.

Ashfar Ali Sheikh was a daily wage labourer. He died of a gunshot injury. He was just 21 years old. Young and unmarried, he was working in Mumbai to support his family at home. His father is a labourer on a farm in their village. He also leaves behind four siblings. The eldest works on a farm, two others are in the 9th and 6th standard respectively and one brother is blind.

In these and similar cases we have decided to give an ad hoc grant of Rs. 2 lakh by way of a monthly income fixed deposit scheme to add to the compensation given by the government and other agencies.

We estimate that finally 25-30 families of the deceased may need support and about 50 injured persons will need medical and other support. At this stage, we estimate that Rs. 70 - 80 lakh will be required to support those mentioned above.

We seek your support and trust you are able to contribute in our work.

Thanking you,

Harsha Parekh"

Reflecting

I was just checking out our friend Janera's website/blog - an online destination for global opinion and writing - and came across the post about the vigil we held in the wake of the attacks. Remember you can still light a candle for remembrance, it is never too late.

Mumbai Vigil in New York

This week has been another one of change, for the world and for me. While the terrorists attacked the Oberoi and the Taj in Mumbai, I was packing boxes, purging belongings that no longer served me. And as I was schlepping my stuff up five flights, the Indian special forces raided the Jewish Centre exterminating the remaining terrorists. Though I followed the news on NPR, I must admit that I was preoccupied with adjusting to my new environment.

Last night however, I went to a vigil for those who were killed in Mumbai, organized by Benita Singh and Shruti Ganguly. I went to pay my respects and to mourn the victims. A small group gathered at the Jivamukti studio on Union Square. Except for myself and one American who had come with his colleague, all were Indian.

We exchanged stories. One guy mentioned the power of globalization. His mother, who lives in New York, had seen what had happened in Mumbai on the news and phoned her brother there to warn him not to take his usual train. She had known before her brother what was happening in his town.

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The President is Coming

There are few places in the world these days where George W. Bush is welcomed with open arms rather than projectile loafers. India is definitely a last-standing outpost of We-Heart-Bush sentiment (thanks in no small part to his giving us our nukes), and that excitement over our lame duck is captured in the new film The President is Coming, about Bush's 2006 visit to India and the fierce competition to be the representative "young Indian" to shake the presidential hand.

Among the hopefuls: a pretentious and cutting female Bengali novelist, a South Indian IITan who speaks almost exclusively in proofs, India's top accent trainer whose dream is to return to America after being unceremoniously deported several years back, a weasel-y new-money stock trader, a pro-Hindustan social worker, and a rich Delhi daddy's girl who proudly claims herself to be the Indian Paris Hilton.

The film was written by Anuvab Pal (of Loins of Punjab fame), again based on his own hit play, and is shot in the similar mockumentary, Christopher Guest style. I've had the pleasure of spending some time with Anuvab during my current sojourn in Bombay, and I've officially labeled him the Indian Ricky Gervais.

In a time when Bombay's glitterati is concerned only about their own personal safety ("oh my god, yaar, what if I had been at Harbor Bar the night of the attacks!") or the thudding sound of their pay rates falling to the floor, Anuvab is a breath of fresh air. His film serves the same function on a slightly more macro level.

It's interesting to note that The President is Coming was having it's premiere on November 26th, the night the attacks broke out. The film was halted mid-screening and the high-profile audience ushered to the safety of their gated Juhu bungalows. The release of the film was subsequently delayed until January 9th (in India only for now, but stay tuned for a US release date).

Personally, I think it was a blessing in disguise. What better time to commemorate the out-going President than during his final few days in office, when he concievably can't do any more harm. If you're in India, go see this movie on the 9th, and if not, keep a close eye out for its release.

What do we do now...

One of our readers posted this as a comment but we felt that it deserved it's own post and discussion.


-Get together with the people in your building and neighbouring buildings and form a group, because only together can we all fight this battle.
-Join the local area office of any party that you support or think will work with you(BJP/Congress/MNS/Shiv Sena etc..) in your area. Help them in whatever work they are carrying out. Try and attend all the meetings possible that they hold and make sure to voice your opinions where ever possible. Start off with doing the work they have underway and then ask them to do things you want them to.
-Visit your local area police stations and fire stations. Enquire about the safety measures they have in place there. Find out about their 'in case of emergency' drills. Through the party that you are working with, make sure that the police in your area get all the ammunition's, safety jackets etc.. that they need.
-Start an NGO with the help of people in your society/ locality and create awareness among the people about why and how to bring about change.
-DO NOT DONATE IN CASH!! Make all the donations in kind, if we give cash then thats only another reason we'll have for our next protest rally!
-Get the BMC to clear up all the garbbage in your area that has been lying around for sometime.Make them visit the area regularly. Get their help to remove illegal pan shops and bidi wallahs from the area.
-Do all of this POLITELY , force will not get us anywhere.

We welcome other suggestions and comments.

Filling the Big Empty by Rahul Bose

I came across this piece by my friend Rahul and wanted to share it with you all:

Standing at Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare’s funeral, I was struck by the people who had gathered to pay homage to one of the most upright, secular and committed officers of the Mumbai police. Politicians, college students, leaders of the Muslim community, activists, and other members of the police. And then the questions. Why does it take such an immense tragedy to unite us? Why does this sentiment snuff out seconds after the occasion? What is it in our DNA that allows leaders to walk into our rooms, rape us, leave and come back again when the need arises?

This is the greatest psychological blow that the city has received. People say the country, but I disagree. The fall of the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat riots have left deeper wounds. But as far as Bombay is concerned, 60 hours of television have brought the beginning, middle and end of this tragedy into our living rooms. We have seen guns, shoot-outs, murders, fires, commandos, traumatised survivors and destruction of every kind. And so have our children. My belief still remains that the practical effect of the attacks will be less than the effect that the 1993 and 2006 bombings had on the common Bombayite. Then it was a direct connection to fear: “Should I go back to work in Zaveri Bazaar? “Should I send my children on the trains tomorrow?” Now those fears are more general — anything can happen in this city, be careful. The psyche of Bombay will take a generation to recover.

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Disaster Tourism

I couldn't help myself. Today, while strolling in Colaba in search of a new pair of shoes, I stopped in at the Cafe Leopold for a fresh lime soda and a macabre look at the remnants left behind by the terrorists who shot up the place on November 26th.

Imagine my disappointment when the place seemed business-as-usual. The square tables were packed with locals and firangis, drinking beer and chowing down on veg Manchurian. No extra security protected its doors. No somber tone amongst the waitstaff or the patrons. No heaps of flowers lay where bodies might have slumped a couple of weeks ago.

Except for five easy-to-miss bullet holes in the glass and a sudden run on Cafe Leopold t-shirts, not much has changed at the hangout, which reopened its doors less than 48 hours after the start of the attacks, while the terrorists that had shot it up were still sending sprays of gunfire throughout the Taj hotel, a couple of blocks away.

A European couple at an adjacent table shared my disappointment. "It's like nothing happened," one said glumly to the other. They resigned themselves to taking a photo of a bullet hole in the glass panel and buying a t-shirt before going off in search of a venue with a better sense of post traumatic stress.

I watched, bemused, as I sucked down the last of my soda. Welcome to Mumbai, I wanted to tell them, where yesterday's disaster is today's opportunity for entrepreneurship. Instead, I bought a t-shirt, too.

Where in the World is Arundhati Roy?

While jogging today I realized something. By now, every two-bit politician, actor, police chief, even yours truly has gone on television and radio to give our two cents about the recent Mumbai terror attacks. But why haven't we heard from India's Dissident Laureate, the anti-corporatist, anti-colonialist, anti-everything Arundhati Roy?

Fear not, dear readers. We looked under every soap box in the land and found the following reactions from Ms. Roy. I warn you, in true Roy fashion, the author picks quite a few fights with her views (just read the comments posted below the video), but I have to say I'm leaning more towards her judgment than Sukhetu Mehta's call for us to retaliate to the attacks by spending more money at the Oberoi Shopping Arcade (for those of you who favor Mr. Mehta's approach, the Arcade reopened this week).

LISTEN: "India has become a more cruel country."
(Start at around minute 2:45)