It will all be forgotten in two days. The city will ‘bounce back’, ‘show its resilience’ and ‘give ample proof of its never-say-die spirit’. It doesn’t matter that a few hundred people are no more. A few hundred lives mercilessly cut short, a few hundred dreams cruelly snapped. A few hundred numbers, a few hundred statistics. A few hundred funerals, and then life will be the same again. Because it’ll all be forgotten in two days.

The same old bickering between political parties. The Shiv Sena blaming the NCP for ruining the state. The BJP slinging mud at the Congress for letting the law-and-order situation crumble. Fiery speeches, bloated egos, ulterior motives, heartless politicians, and a mindless public.

But it’ll all be forgotten. Empty abuses, helplessness, anger and rage. There is nothing anyone can do about it. Other than try fighting the system, and giving up one’s own life in the process. Not in one swift stroke of a chopper, or a momentary bang from a pistol. Worse, much worse! Giving up the life slowly, gradually. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Worrying. About oneself, the family. Worrying about whether one will get to witness the next hour.

So one abuses – empty, vacuous expletives that mean nothing, and can do no harm. And then one forgets. ‘Terror strikes Bombay…Again’. The same headlines, the same pictures. We’ve been there before, and done that. And consoled ourselves – ‘It can’t happen to me’. It always happens to someone else, until one day we’re the ‘someone else’ for someone else.

And terror will strike Bombay again. Because we do nothing about it. Perhaps because we can’t do anything about it. Because we’re strong. And brave. And resilient. And we can ‘bounce back’. We are Indians too; we forgive. And forget. A little too soon. Two days is all it takes…