Twenty Six Eleven

Its been a while since I penned / blogged about something that changed me as a person.
It happened 2 years ago when a know-it-all son of a gun (literally) massacred a lot of helpless people at VT. And it changed the mindscape of Mumbai forever.

Our XIC class decided to do something about it. Led on by a free minded prof, we gathered at Gateway and started to circle the area around the Taj. The idea was to chant a line in unison and create a monument of sound to fill the cracks that were caused. We began to chant softly at first then rising in tempo and volume, "Aatank se hum kabhi nahi darenge, nafrat ka saamna pyaar se karenge."

Soon people started asking us which party we belonged to, and which organization we were from and what was the purpose of all this. Surely enough there were many like us who decided to come to Gateway that day in the memory of a murdered Mumbai. But we continued to do our chanting.

That day something happened, while we were standing holding hands of the many random people who helped us to form a circle of trust. The person next to me started to chant with such belief and gusto that I could not help but wonder how a small line had changed him. The grip with which he gripped my hand had just made me a believer.

Here is a dedication to all my XIC classmates for making me believe that change is only possible if you believe in it!