Thursday, April 14, 2011

The day I met the TERRORIST



That day started like any other day. Seldom did I know that in few hours my uncomplicated life was going to transform forever. The drama that was going to unfold would break my monotonous routine and give my life a brand new meaning. Call it chance or call it fate, but it happened on 24th September 2008, the day I met the" terrorist".



 2008 had been a shocking year for India. Blasts have struck almost every part of the country. The sense of security has been shattered. Eleven days ago 5 bombs ripped apart the heart of the capital. One of them happened to be very close to a market where we lived. There was a feeling of insecurity the moment we left our house. However, life went on. Being in the rat-race meant stopping was even worse. With that feeling of insecurity I left the house for office at 9:50am. I was already late than usual. I ran hard and overtook two persons, much to their dislike, to get ahead in the ever persistent queue for auto to the Karol Bagh metro station. I still landed behind ten other anxious people.  It took three autos to clear the queue in front of me. I got into the fourth. It was only after reaching the station I realized that I had left my purse at home.  I had to take the same auto back, collect my purse and return to the metro station. 'Lucky auto-wala', I cursed in my mind venting my anger on the poor man, as if he was responsible for me being late. I had never been so late for office.

It was 11o'clock when the train arrived. Being peak office hour, the station was crowded. However, it does not take much effort to get into the train if you are used to the crowd. All you need to do is get synchronized with the flow, the rest is taken care of by the crowd itself.  Like a huge vacuum cleaner the train sucked in all the passengers from the platform, and then the door closed. As the train began to move and the passengers settle down, I slowly moved towards the nearby seat. Even though there was no chance of getting a seat, being close to it gave a strange comfort. Luckily, and quite unexpectedly, the guy sitting in front of me got down and I got my lucky seat. That was the first time I saw him. He was sitting right beside me. If only I knew. As I sat I looked at him and smiled. He did not smile back. He looked a bit disturbed. It was easy to realize that he was a Muslim. He was thin, tanned, about 5’6” tall. His mustache was clean shaven and had a long beard. He wore a white pant going up to his ankle, a white full sleeve kurta and his head was covered with a kufri. He was carrying a red plastic bag, inside it there was something that looked like a square box.

Normally you expect people to smile back when you smile at them. It’s quite common to smile at strangers while you are traveling in a train. It generally begins the time-pass conversations like ''Should Sachin retire?'' or ''Should India go for war against Pakistan?'' to Indian politics, poverty, power cuts, and you know, all the useless “I am intelligent” guy talk. This guy seemed least interested in any of those topics. However, more than his unfriendly behavior it was his disturbing look that concerned me. Why was he tensed and nervous? What was he carrying in his red plastic bag? Wouldn't a crowded metro be an ideal spot for a blast? Was he a terrorist? That last thought send chills down my spine. What if he was a terrorist and was carrying a bomb inside that plastic bag? What if he was going to blow this train? It was a perfect place for another blast. Is this going to be the last day of my life? The picture of my beautiful wife appeared in front of my eyes. What would happen to her? However, I was not sure about the man; it would look stupid if I called for help. I wanted to share my horror with someone else, I could not. There were people around, but no one seemed bothered. Still four more stops to reach my destination. I thought of getting down from the train when it stops in the next station. Even though I do not believe in god, I prayed for the train to stop. It was my first prayer, and all I wanted was to save myself and let the others burn with the train, so typical of our species. The ‘terrorist’ got up before the next station arrived. To my relief, he got down. So I changed my decision and kept my precious seat. May be he was not a terrorist after all. I was happy to get rid of a man who looked like a religious Muslim. I felt as if I just survived a plane crash.

The sense of relieve lasted pretty short.  What I saw next gave me the shock of my life. Just below my seat was kept the red plastic bag that ‘the terrorist’ was carrying. Inside it was the square box. He kept the bomb and went down, and I was still inside. The train was going to blow. We are all going to die. I had never been so afraid before.

I tried to feel the box inside the bag with my leg. It appeared much lighter than I thought. A bomb must be heavier. I gathered some courage, picked it up and opened it. There inside the red plastic bag was kept a square diary. It was not a bomb. For the first time in my life I was ashamed of myself, embarrassed by my prejudice. Anybody can have a bad day and behave in a nervous manner like he was behaving. In fact, I was behaving exactly in that manner moments ago. Would I have felt the same if he did not look like a Muslim? 

32 comments:

  1. A complete eye-opener and a slap on our (international) society. In fact, terrorism has nothing to do with religion and be it Hindu, Muslim or anyone else, can be a terrorist. Terrorists are nothing but hardliners. We all are aware of terrorism in Punjab, they were not muslims. And now a days Hindu terrorism is also coming into light. Superb take, congrats for an taking this topic up.
    Just like that...
    http://animeshkmishra.blogspot.com

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  2. @animesh...
    thanks...u r right...terrorist are few group of brainwashed poor fellows...i pity them...

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  3. Bitter truth of society.like always u have written awesome sirji. i like the message hidden inside all ur blogs and the most important thing which u bring out is all about country that how to develop our country,how to improve more and more. i proud of being ur follower.i read number of poems and blog mostly are written on love,and some are written on frndship.but very few people penned down these kinda topics.wud love to learn so many things from u .. nd thank u for writing some thoughtful posts

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  4. This post is an eye-opener for our society or shall I say for the whole world where Muslims are seen as a source of threat! I feel pity for such people with this kind of mentality!
    I dunno what these people would refer those hindus involved in numerous blasts! It's the thinking and mentality that matters actually!

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  5. @some unspoken words...that is sooo sweet of you....:-)thanks a lot!!!I only hope that i can keep up to your expectation...

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  6. @Sanjana....you are right...ppl who thinks like this are as sick as the terrorists...they both need help...

    @Rachit....thank a lot :-)

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  7. Once again, wonderful thought on our society..... pen down

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  8. I was exactly thinking of the same thing from the 3rd paragraph.The way terrorists have been portrayed is as if they are by default muslims . It is really sad, and each time we come across large gatherings with young muslim men it bothers us. I think its time we change!

    Anyways awesome blog buddy, I can't help but follow you! :D

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  9. @Vijay Menon...thanks buddy...yes, it is time we change....:-)

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  10. hi,
    I loved this post of yours..btw, was this a real incident?
    I have nothing against anyone.. no religion.. no boundaries.. no colour/caste.. I am only against the individual who is wrong..
    If at all I have prejudice it is for women and muslims (I am both) probably because I feel that nothing can be worse than my own self or religion..

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  11. happens... its called being human.. the best part is that you talked and let others know how you were at fault...

    I've just written a bit similar... though on a different topic all together..

    this was one of those post that I didn't regret stumbling into

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  12. @Shazia...I'm glad u liked it :-)
    ...no it wasn't ;-)
    you are right...right or wrong can only be on individual basis...
    U can hav prejudice against women and muslims coz u r both, just like i have against men and hindus. that is only b'coz it does not hurt ur conscience...if u hated sm1 else u would feel like being racist!!that would not do good to your clear conscience ;-)...
    Cheers

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  13. @Rishi...thanks for the visit dude...
    yes i saw yours and i liked it...keep visiting...
    Cheers!

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  14. LOL...thanks for your comments....:-)

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  15. My experience is that one has to be quick in taking a call depending on the situation, in your case you have been blessed, in my case too i was lucky twice, cat seems to be having 9 lives i suppose Lolz Good sharing of your experience, stereotyping is bad.

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  16. I see anger...I see hatred....it is good that I am an idiot.....at least I am happy....

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  17. dear dear oh dear....I should write a post about "the day I spoke with a terrorist in my blog"....there isn't much difference in The Mindset of the Muslim terrorists and Saffron terrorists.....I only have pity for them...hope there will be a day when people will learn to love and not hate....

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  18. What a JOKER you are !!!!
    Dawood Ibrahim was also an Indian and so are Abu Salem, Chota Shakeel, Syed Shabuddin, Mukhtar Ansari, Afzal Guru. And what about SIMI Indian Mujaheedin & Gujarat Revenge Force what are they - Charity organisation . people like you were talking the same shit in 1947 also- "Muslims are our brothers", "Muslims are here for 1000 years" and bla bla bla bla ...what happened then why partitoned happened?? all Pakistanis were Indian once ..isnt it..now why are they making Nuclear bombs..to kill all Hindus ..why ..what changed...I tell you - Islam the religion changed.So Mr. pseudo-secular Muslim appeaser get your facts right before opening your mouth.And more General Musharraf & AQ Khan were both born in India but they are now serving Pakistan and helping Islam to finish hinduism

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  19. another self-loathing pseudo-secular idiot

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  20. Oh! You are so intelligent! You caught me....Yes it is fake, just like your mindset about 160 million Muslims...if it was true there would have been more terrorist attacks in India than in Pakistan....I do not disagree that there are few who support the terrorist, but only a hand full few...infact there are more so called Hindus who are more harmful....they twist the meaning of Hinduism to spread hatred....It is an insult to the great concept called Hinduism...remember Hinduism is not a religion...it is a way of life...infact it is more than life...there is no hatred in it...

    By the way...thanks for your suggestions...it is this kinds of comments that keeps me going...I will definitely try something better next time...:-)

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  21. about the 160 million Indians

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  22. Your Story is FAKE !
    Nobody will keep a diary inside a box & then the box inside a bag. Why he won't keep the diary in bag or diary in his hand . Ridiculous
    Next time try something better.

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  23. I think u need a change of MINDSET ;-)

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  24. India and Hindus are paying the price of having 160 million Muslims inside our borders.

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    ReplyDelete

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