When will it be our turn

Hi folks,

The more I read about what happened in Mumbai, the more afraid I become. Regardless of where you live, how you make a living, or what you do in the service of humanity, you, too could fall prey to people like the ones who did this. Like the ones who did Columbine, or 9/11.

India has been mythologized in Western popular culture as a place of peace and harmony--notably by my favorite band, The Beatles. In my short experience working there, and in many things in the news over the past few years, it has become obvious to me that this is not the case, and has never been the case. There are deep-rooted animosities as a result of the caste system, and also the pseudo-governmental Hindu control over other religious groups. Muslims, in particular, are marginalized.

The British thought they had solved the problem in 1946-1947 by partitioning The Raj into India and Pakistan, but that obviously didn't work. Sixty years of violence later, we get these headlines.

Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, 130 or 150 killed is not such a big thing. More are killed in one way or another every day not far from where I live. What scares me is the audacity of these people, and the fact that I have been in at least one, if not a couple, of the places that were attacked. And that I still know people who frequent these places....and that I don't really know what I would do if I were stuck in such a mess.

If you haven't kept up with this story, I recommend the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7756616.stm

Love and Peace!

Rick