Happy New Year 2007!
With every year that passes by, there are events that have taken place, which affect you in some way or another and change your world. Occurrences that leave an indelible mark on your memory, and change you forever. Each one of us is affected in a different way, and each one of us reacts differently to the same event. This year too saw many such events. I have listed three that affected tremendously and changed me in some way, forever. Ironically, all the three I have listed, transpired within a week of each other.
The recent football world cup will be remembered as one that belonged to the underdogs. Teams that were pitted to win the cup, like Germany, Argentina and Brazil, did not. Instead, two teams that were far from being at their best reached the finals. Both Italy and France reached the finals with a little luck and gritty football.
The stage was set for a great game of football, and what a game it turned out to be! Two thrilling goals scored, with each team scoring one. The atmosphere was tense yet exhilarating, adrenalin was pumping, pulses were racing, hearts were beating at an unbelievable pace, everyone who was watching was at the edge of their seats as the game went in to extra time. Then the unthinkable happened, Zinedine Zidane, the maestro who almost single-handedly brought his team to the finals, was given a red card, and was sent off the field! For sometime, nobody knew why? Then the incident was replayed on the giant screens at the stadium. Zidane made the word “headbutt” a household term almost instantaneously. We will never know what provoked him, and what Materazzi said to him. But, in an instant, an entire nation’s heart skipped a beat. Italy went on to win the cup 5-3, through a penalty shootout. What if Zidane was not sent off, would France lose?
Here I learned that you can achieve great things if you have belief in yourself and that it is not only one man’s efforts, but teamwork that matters. Also, that it takes only a fraction of a second for a nation to realise that its sporting idol is but human.
Mumbai suburban train bombings (11 July 2006)
This was one of the worst terror attacks the city has seen. They were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and India's financial capital. 209 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured in the attacks.
The scenes of the terror attack were horrific. Yet in times like these, when the backbone of the city’s public transport network was crippled, people from all walks of life came out to help those who were stranded. The Western Railways did a commendable job of restoring the rail services to normalcy almost overnight!
I was in my office in South Mumbai when the blasts occurred, and got the news almost instantaneously of the blasts and the resulting situation. The first half hour or so was very tense as we tried frantically calling our loved ones informing them of our safety and inquiring about others. What added to the anxiety was that most mobile telephone networks collapsed. Most of my colleagues were stranded in office as the train routes were closed and traffic on the roads had come to a standstill, because of the traffic jams. I did not have too much of a problem getting home as I stayed a stone throw away from the office, but I decided to stay back with my colleagues. It was well worth the wait because as we waited, we all realised we all shared the same fears and concerns, and we also shared the same resilience to fight back. Anyone who knows the communal history of Mumbai, will know this when I say that, this could easily have turned in to a Hindu – Muslim flare up. As no terror group had claimed responsibility, and the previous few days witnessed stray incidents of communal violence in the outskirts of the city. But, on this day we knew that the people who had done this had no religion.
What transpired the next day was indeed a slap in the face of the monsters that carried out these attacks. People got back in the very same trains that only the previous day had witnessed gory scenes of violence. Some newspapers reported that this was the resilience and fighting spirit of the Mumaikar. Others claimed that these people had no other choice, because if they did not go to work they won’t be able to earn their daily bread. While still some others said that the people were too selfish and are not concerned with the world, as long as they and their family are safe. Whatever the reason, I knew for a fact that this terror attack failed miserably at what it was aimed at doing. The intended “terror” did not set in, people were more determined than before, to catch the guilty and punish them.
On this day I learned the fragility of life, any moment could be my last. Fragile as our life may be, the human spirit to live on is eternal and always triumphs when pushed against a wall.
Israel war on Lebanon (12 July – 14 August 2006)
The *2006 Israel-Lebanon military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel was fought between the Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. This was a war that many thought was justified, as the Hezbollah “committed an act of war”.
To be honest, even I thought that what the Israelis did was justifiable, but as the days went by, I realised how terribly wrong I was and the rest who thought like me were. War in any form is wrong and cannot be justified. Violence only begets violence and does not solve anything.
Are there any such events that changed you in 2006?
*The conflict began when Hezbollah fired Katyusha rockets and mortars at Israeli military positions and border villages, diverting attention from another Hezbollah unit that crossed the border and abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed three others. Israeli troops attempted to rescue the abducted soldiers but were unsuccessful, losing five more in the attempt. Israel responded with massive air strikes and artillery fire on Lebanese civilian infrastructure, including Rafik Hariri International Airport which Israel said Hezbollah used to import weapons, an air and naval blockade, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah then launched rockets into northern Israel and engaged the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in guerrilla warfare from hardened positions.
The conflict killed over 1,400 people, most of who were Lebanese citizens, severely damaged Lebanese infrastructure, displaced about 975,000 Lebanese and 300,000 Israelis and disrupted normal life across all of Lebanon and northern Israel. Even after the ceasefire, much of Southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due to unexploded cluster bombs. As of 1 December 2006, an estimated 200,000 Lebanese remained internally displaced or refugees.
Taken from www.wikipedia.com
With every year that passes by, there are events that have taken place, which affect you in some way or another and change your world. Occurrences that leave an indelible mark on your memory, and change you forever. Each one of us is affected in a different way, and each one of us reacts differently to the same event. This year too saw many such events. I have listed three that affected tremendously and changed me in some way, forever. Ironically, all the three I have listed, transpired within a week of each other.
The recent football world cup will be remembered as one that belonged to the underdogs. Teams that were pitted to win the cup, like Germany, Argentina and Brazil, did not. Instead, two teams that were far from being at their best reached the finals. Both Italy and France reached the finals with a little luck and gritty football.
The stage was set for a great game of football, and what a game it turned out to be! Two thrilling goals scored, with each team scoring one. The atmosphere was tense yet exhilarating, adrenalin was pumping, pulses were racing, hearts were beating at an unbelievable pace, everyone who was watching was at the edge of their seats as the game went in to extra time. Then the unthinkable happened, Zinedine Zidane, the maestro who almost single-handedly brought his team to the finals, was given a red card, and was sent off the field! For sometime, nobody knew why? Then the incident was replayed on the giant screens at the stadium. Zidane made the word “headbutt” a household term almost instantaneously. We will never know what provoked him, and what Materazzi said to him. But, in an instant, an entire nation’s heart skipped a beat. Italy went on to win the cup 5-3, through a penalty shootout. What if Zidane was not sent off, would France lose?
Here I learned that you can achieve great things if you have belief in yourself and that it is not only one man’s efforts, but teamwork that matters. Also, that it takes only a fraction of a second for a nation to realise that its sporting idol is but human.
Mumbai suburban train bombings (11 July 2006)
This was one of the worst terror attacks the city has seen. They were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and India's financial capital. 209 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured in the attacks.
The scenes of the terror attack were horrific. Yet in times like these, when the backbone of the city’s public transport network was crippled, people from all walks of life came out to help those who were stranded. The Western Railways did a commendable job of restoring the rail services to normalcy almost overnight!
I was in my office in South Mumbai when the blasts occurred, and got the news almost instantaneously of the blasts and the resulting situation. The first half hour or so was very tense as we tried frantically calling our loved ones informing them of our safety and inquiring about others. What added to the anxiety was that most mobile telephone networks collapsed. Most of my colleagues were stranded in office as the train routes were closed and traffic on the roads had come to a standstill, because of the traffic jams. I did not have too much of a problem getting home as I stayed a stone throw away from the office, but I decided to stay back with my colleagues. It was well worth the wait because as we waited, we all realised we all shared the same fears and concerns, and we also shared the same resilience to fight back. Anyone who knows the communal history of Mumbai, will know this when I say that, this could easily have turned in to a Hindu – Muslim flare up. As no terror group had claimed responsibility, and the previous few days witnessed stray incidents of communal violence in the outskirts of the city. But, on this day we knew that the people who had done this had no religion.
What transpired the next day was indeed a slap in the face of the monsters that carried out these attacks. People got back in the very same trains that only the previous day had witnessed gory scenes of violence. Some newspapers reported that this was the resilience and fighting spirit of the Mumaikar. Others claimed that these people had no other choice, because if they did not go to work they won’t be able to earn their daily bread. While still some others said that the people were too selfish and are not concerned with the world, as long as they and their family are safe. Whatever the reason, I knew for a fact that this terror attack failed miserably at what it was aimed at doing. The intended “terror” did not set in, people were more determined than before, to catch the guilty and punish them.
On this day I learned the fragility of life, any moment could be my last. Fragile as our life may be, the human spirit to live on is eternal and always triumphs when pushed against a wall.
Israel war on Lebanon (12 July – 14 August 2006)
The *2006 Israel-Lebanon military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel was fought between the Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. This was a war that many thought was justified, as the Hezbollah “committed an act of war”.
To be honest, even I thought that what the Israelis did was justifiable, but as the days went by, I realised how terribly wrong I was and the rest who thought like me were. War in any form is wrong and cannot be justified. Violence only begets violence and does not solve anything.
Are there any such events that changed you in 2006?
*The conflict began when Hezbollah fired Katyusha rockets and mortars at Israeli military positions and border villages, diverting attention from another Hezbollah unit that crossed the border and abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed three others. Israeli troops attempted to rescue the abducted soldiers but were unsuccessful, losing five more in the attempt. Israel responded with massive air strikes and artillery fire on Lebanese civilian infrastructure, including Rafik Hariri International Airport which Israel said Hezbollah used to import weapons, an air and naval blockade, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah then launched rockets into northern Israel and engaged the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in guerrilla warfare from hardened positions.
The conflict killed over 1,400 people, most of who were Lebanese citizens, severely damaged Lebanese infrastructure, displaced about 975,000 Lebanese and 300,000 Israelis and disrupted normal life across all of Lebanon and northern Israel. Even after the ceasefire, much of Southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due to unexploded cluster bombs. As of 1 December 2006, an estimated 200,000 Lebanese remained internally displaced or refugees.
Taken from www.wikipedia.com
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