One day hope will roar through silence....

"Don't worry dude, I m alive and kicking!", he said from the other end of the phone.
"What the hell are you talking about?", I shrieked.
"Don't you know? I am at Koti right now. We heard a thud when we were practicing for the play. we did not realize then, but later we came to know that it was a bomb blast!"
"A bomb what...O my god!", I gasped.
"Yes, we have had a couple of bomb blasts in Hyderabad today. you seem to be out of this world dude. Switch on the Television set, you will know! Okay, I got to go home now. Call you later. bye"
"Hey bye! Do take care. Don't loiter around. Go straight home!"
"Yes! I will. Bye"
"Bye"

I immediately ran out of my room towards the living area . Every channel, everywhere it was the same news! "Hyderabad rocked by twin bomb blasts. 39 feared dead and more than 60 injured." I realized that Hyderabad was no longer a safe city as it had been for years now!

The news channels were apologizing for telecasting it live without any editing. Indeed, it was a ghastly sight. It has been painted in my mind like a dreaded nightmare. Chairs were painted red with the blood oozing out of shards of people. People. Innocent people. Students. Children. Grand parents. Visitors. Tourists. None of them was spared. The bomb knew only one language, the language of death!

These questions might be cliches, but I want to reiterate them. Why do people kill people? Why do they kill anybody for that matter? Have they no compassion? Have they no guilt? Dont they feel love towards their own race? What do they want to prove by killing innocent people? God had made this world without any bias or prejudice, then why do people draw lines between nations and create borders!

I know I am never going to get the answers to the numerous kindred questions arising in my mind. All I want is people to realize that this terror is taking us a step backward. With great advances in technology and software, no doubt we can make sophisticated weapons, bombs and the like. But Is it worth it? Millions of people are homeless. Thousands of them jobless. With all capital going into securing nations, we are snatching the basic right of such people. The right to live.

Now people are scared. I am scared. Scared of having to see such a grisly sight again in my life. Scared of inhuman humans who wear a mask of humanity on their faces. Scared of getting a phone call only to hear that I have lost someone. Scared to switch on a news channel on TV only to know that there has been another blast.I am also ashamed, ashamed to see my reflection in the mirror because I belong to the human race. A race where's no brotherhood. No love. No care. Only hatred. Vengeance. Betrayal. Destruction.

I don't know where is this all going to take us one day but as of now, I know it is only taking us a step backward. If humans are advancing in every walk of life, then humanity is retreating from that very walk of life. What are we going to do with latest mobile phones if the loved ones do not exist anymore? Who will we call? What is the use of an advance feature yahoo messenger, if we cannot chat with anyone?

All this and more has been troubling me since Saturday. I had heard about blasts and all everyday, but had never seen it from such a close range. My heart goes out for people living in Kashmir, Afghanistan and other areas, where they witness such incidents at the blink of the eye. I salute them for their bravery. I respect them for their patience and their optimism. They urge me to become optimistic. They shout through their silence that there is an undying hope in them that one day world will become a better place to live. And from today, I am with them...

Rendezvous with freedom...

I caught the world
I put it in a bubble,
I smiled in triumph,
I scratched my stubble!

Whimpers, wails, whines, wails ,
Human complaints or the animal yammer,
I took absolutely none of it,
Not the noise, neither the clammer!

Then my eyes fell on the jailed bird,
fluttering its wings, trying so hard,
It crashed on its iron confinement,
It lost its feather,not unlike a shard!

The captor crouched on the grass around,
oblivious to the bird's clatter,
insolently announcing the captive's worth,
freedom to him? it didnt matter!

I downed my head in dreaded disgrace,
I was someone I scorned to the core,
I broke the glass,I freed the world,
I found myself at the heaven's door!