a fortnight ago , Mumbai was ablaze and the whole country was feeling its heat . every Indian wasdazed , shocked beyond words and struck by a tragedy so strong that it was almost unbelievable . how can a bunch of 20-something boys strike at the Indian pride so boldly , destroy our symbols of prestige with such ease , kill our brothers without any remorse and make us feel so helpless ? is this what they call freedom ?? have we ever been less free from the venom of terrorism and violence ? any tom,dick and harry who knows how to handle a gun comes and attacks any place he wishes to and gets away with it . and we just keep repeating the cliched phrases of 'cowardice of terrorists ' , 'spirit of mumbai ' , 'show must go on ' and et al .what do we really mean by cowadice ? however crooked the ways , these ruthless men did make innumerable women widows and countless people childless . god knows how many sons had to perform their parents last rites and how many would be bride's hopes were dashed even before their weddings . does calling these merchants of deaths ' cowards' erase the suffering of a whole nation battling with insecurity and crippling with fear ?
what spirit are we talking about ? how many times will mumbai have to bear with such ghastly acts and show its spirit ? why is something not done about it ? which show are we talking about? the mother whose only son has gone without any fault of his has nothing to look forward to in her life anymore . which show can possibly make her forget her profound loss ? its time we look beyond all these empty and overused words and actually do something . its time our planning commision made security of india its prime point . its time our intelligence agencies actually got some brains and its time we all recognised that unless we do something to change the situation , the day is not far when india will be counted alongside Pakistan and Afghanistan .

one would think that there is no hope left after such dark periods . but then it takes only one candle to illuminate others ! today all of us are trying to find that one candle . to some its in the religious preachings , to others it is in the normal routine they used to follow before all this happened ; to some it is in the sound of music and to others , like me , it is in cricket ! the first time i actually felt the terror was over ,even if for the time being , was when i heard about sachin practising at the wankhede and giving his priceless 'tips' to the youngsters . today sachin will once again bat the
way he used to before the attacks .he will again thrash bowlers the way he did in sharjah . watching him on the crease would again inspire thousands like me to have faith in our dreams ; to believe that
the darkness spread by these barbaric men cannot stay for long , to believe that if a 16 year old could dominate the best Pakistani bolwers against all odds , then our country too can battle against these terrorists . i know the comparison is weird and maybe a little cruel for some , but such is the impact of sachin on our collective consciousness that i dont feel even a tinge of regret at this . for me sach is beyond all this , he truly is my answer to every question of my life . so when he would hit a straight drive , thousands like me would again feel that joy and exhilaration , blessed to be living and praying
for thsoe who are not . we would thank god a million times over for letting us be born in this era and giving us the highest honour of watching sach bat and we would not feel so depresed anymore . when
sachin would raise his bat after completing his century , it would be a silent answer to all those forces who want to change our lives , an answer loudly proclaiming that no matter how hard you try , the
people of my nation would not bog down . and when he would look up at the sky , he would thank his father and ask him to take care of all the souls that couldnt watch this match because of this catastrophe .

to the people who have lost heir near and dear ones, probably all this will go unnoticed right now , but for those of us who havent sustained any tangible losses but for the loss of out mental peace and happiness , watching sachin on the ground would definitely act as a stimulant . but at the same time the black bands on the arms would remind us not to forget our losses but to work towards making our land safe with full energy and determination . 

may god grant peace to the departed souls and strength to the bereaved to bear with their losses . may we never have to face such a situation ever again . i cant say for sure what would happen ten days from now on , but i do know that today so many people will sleep properly after many days , because they would have watched sachin bat again , a proof of normalcy .they would be assured because He is still there . let the assurance be for real and not just an illusion . let us all have the courage to follow the real sachinism and let the essence of sachinism reach far and wide !!!

if winter comes , can spring be far behind ??