Salut & Farewell ...

Strange ..., in French "Salut" is used to greet one another.
In English, the military salute their superiors and those of higher rank. And now I want to salute all those bravehearts who have sacrificed their lives for us and our country...
Also, Farewell to all those who had to leave us, not because they were protecting us from the enemy but because there was no one to protect them. Sainia Sehgal Saikia is one of them. I feel sad for her family. I don't know her, but everyone who knew her seemed to love her. She was a foodie and an acclaimed food critic. She stood out from the long list of people who got killed mercilessly.
The reason why I mention her is because I loved the obituary cartoon that TOI had published for her: 2 angels in front of pearly gates and one saying to the other : "we've got a famous food critic coming and I hope our nectar will be up to her standards.." This was so different from the so common "We will miss you ... " obituaries.

It is now one week that this incident has happened, and still the fire of anguish and hurt is burning in peoples' hearts. People go out and burn candles and pray. They show a lot of solidarity. And I was wondering ... There were bomb blasts earlier too happening in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bangalore but never have we seen this kind of solidarity. I don't think that the death of Kamte, Karkare , Salaske & Sandeep Unnikrishnan is the reason. Rather, I believe, the reason is that this time, the attack was focused on the posh places such as the Taj, Oberoi and the Trident and killed many high-society men and women. All this time, the men and women from this strata of society must have thought that this could never happen to them. And why spend time and money for the death of some poor people !!! As long as we are safe, why should we bother or complain? And bang .. see who is talking now... You have Shobhaa De, Karan Johar, Mukesh Ambani etc talking sense and sensibility all on a sudden. Sadly but true, this has been an eye-opener for the government as well. I hope this time we will be able to do something !!!