Blasts : Boston and Bangalore

"A bomb-like material on a motorbike exploded around 10:30 am injuring 16 people, including 11 policemen, near the BJP office at Malleshwaram in north-west Bangalore."

- Lalrokhuma Pachau, state DGP.

Bengalore had suffered bomb blast on the same day 3 years back i.e. 07th April 2010 in M. Chinnaswamy stadium, in which 15 people were injured. any connection between the two? cant say for now.

yesterday it was Boston...now, Bengaluru. The sad truth of our time is, there is no place thats safe from terror attacks. what next? will Sushil kumar Shinde say that he had prior intelligence about the terrorists' plans? or will he again blame it on Saffron Terrorists? Will Digvijay Singh come out and say once again "iske piche RSS ka hath hae"? Though not the same old characters, but something similar came out. Shakeel Ahmed tweeted : (see image at right)

lets compare the aftermath in Boston and Bangalore. yesterday we witnessed how after the blasts the country united as one against the attack. Sadly, it was just the opposite here. Shakeel Ahmed had Politicized the tragedy, adding salt to the wounds. What was even more appaling that instead of apologizing, he stood by his words and tried to explain it on camera to news channels.

Roshan Baig

ABP News held a debate in which Roshan Baig raised his suspicion saying "is this just a coincidence? when elections are so close and BJP is losing its credibility day-by-day, ye patakha phoot'ta hae. daal mein kuchh kaala hae". Seriously? is a blast such a trivial incident now that you'll term it 'Pathakha'? If this is what these two politicians really believe, should we expect a few more blasts (fire-crackers as Baig would call them) in front of Congress' office so that they can encash sympathy votes?

recalling the past blunder-full tweets of Politicians and celebs, shuldnt it be made mandatory for all of them to join Twitter and tweet atleast once a day? seems like Twitter somehow brings out all the bullshit that sits inside their head. No?

Boston Marathon Blasts

The day started with the tragic news of Boston Marathon twin bomb blasts which claimed at least 3 lives and injured over 140 people. Going through the available online write-ups and news, a feeling of helplessness took grip. Having faced similar situations, its a feeling a Mumbaikar is not alien to. In fact most Indian city-dwellers share the sentiment. Thoughts and prayers flow out to the victims. Amidst all the chaos and fear, emerged shining examples of bravery and courage that enkindled faith in Humanity.

• The Marathon runners that crossed the finish line continued to run to Mass General Hospital to donate blood for the victims.link
• People in Boston area offered to house and pick up those who were stranded. 
• Area restaurants fed locals and runners, even when they weren't able to pay. 

It was heartbreaking to read stories of people who lost their loved ones. 

a man was waiting to propose his girlfriend at the finish line, now mourns her loss.

Martin Richard, 8, was killed as he waited to give his father a hug at the finish line.

while going through articles on facebook, I came across a quote by Mr. Rogers someone shared :

When I was A boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. you will always find people who are helping." to this day, especially in times of 'disaster', I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many people caring in this world.

As I recall my experiences of Mumbai bomb blasts, drawing parallels between the two tragedies, besides the loss, fear and horror...the only thing that consoles this restless mind is that there are still people who are ready to stand against terror with courage...that Humanity's hope still prevails. 

There will always be suffering. But we must not suffer over the suffering. 
~ Alan Watts.