Having lived in Mumbai for several years and having observed how people in that city, egged on by the media, think and act I can hypothesize that the labels, phrases and words we use habitually are like the babies we give birth to. These babies take on lives of their own and there comes a time when we become prisoners of the terms we gave birth to.

The danger in these labels is that we rarely ever revisit, ponder over its implications, question its relevance in a changing world, ask whether it is serving a good purpose, examine our assumptions etc.

Let me give you an example in the context of the Mumbai terrorist action. My Mumbai friend, told me over the phone ‘You just wait and watch. Mumbai-ites unlike Chennai-ites or even other Indian cities will be back to normal in hours. In fact the stock market has already looked up’.

I believe this so called ‘get along with our lives’ attitude conceals much that Mumbai-ites may not like to acknowledge. I know I will be touching a raw nerve of many of my Mumbai friends and readers, hence I quote Mumbai icons like Amitabh Bachan and Shobe De.

Amitabh wrote in his blog that Mumbaites in the guise of being businesslike are covering up their indifference to others’ plight.

Shoba De also said that within hours of the standoff coming to an end Mumbai-ites will be back to partying. I can add to this - Mumbai-ites will be back to catching up with the tortuous course of the John Abraham –Bipasha tangle, the Saif-Kareena affair, and so on.

The point is that the minute we hail this attitude—of being businesslike - as desirable and admirable and give it a label we became its slave. Egged on by this label we rarely stop to think if we are becoming indifferent to the tragedy around us. The attitude seems to be — ‘I and my family are safe. I do not have time for those who have lost their breadwinner. Let me get on with my life. The sensex is going up and I am getting richer’.

I cite another example, a positive one, from Chennai [Mumbaites who dislike this city may note that I am NOT comparing the two cities].

There was this bank manager from a nationalized bank in Chennai whose duties included giving loans to slum dwellers. This manager was not only competent but a man with a social conscience who wished to go from platitudes to practical action. He used to tell potential borrowers from slums that he would extend loans to them only if they kept their huts and surroundings clean..he would conduct surprise checks and if satisfied that cleanliness had become a way of life he would give them loans…

Believe me this small initiative has over more than two decades become a big movement called EXXNORA that has made at least parts of Chennai a cleaner city. purely on the initiative of ordinary people led by one man.

In the case of our response to terrorism every voter ought to tell his local MP/MLA that he or she will not get his/her vote unless professional action is taken to make our intelligence, security and police establishment world class. In addition we ought to meet local Muslims and offer our services to protect them from riots even as they help the police With information about the movements of suspicious characters.

We ought to get the label ‘SECURITY CONSCIOUS PEOPLE’ .
There is this shocking information that you may have missed.
the worst terrorist affected countries in the world are India, Iraq and Afghanistan.

We are in sad company.In the realms of economics some Indian states are in the company of Eritrea,, Congo, Somalia !Do we want to be labelled a FOURTH WORLD COUNTRY ?
K.R.RAVI