27/11... the day Mumbai was attacked by terrorists with guns and granades. At least 101 people killed and more than 300 wouded. Attacks on the Oberoi- and Taj Hotels, a railway station, a popular restaurant and a hospital (how sick can you get?). This time foreigners, particularly American and British, were also specifically targeted. The city has been paralized.

Interesting enough a new way of media coverage also surfaces, as most of the reports of what is happening are delivered by bloggers, or via Skype. Only in India...one's dead is another one's bread, as we say in my country.

I met an Indian gentleman today in the lamp-shop that I had to go to, and he told me he is living really close to where it happened. When I said how horrified I was, and how devastating this probably will be for India's development, he told me he believes the terrorists are trying to drive the foreigners out...well, this is the way to go then! Tourists will think twice about booking a trip to a country where major tourist attractions and hotels are bombed, and foreign companies -especially after the Tata incident (which was an Indian company!)- surely can find more stable countries to invest in. Is this the Talibanisation people have been talking about? Or is it just plain stupidity and total disrespect for a human life?

I don't know. I do now that something has changed for me, India has changed for me. I have my ups and downs here, but I never felt really scared...until now. There is a primitive energy here, lurking under the surface, waiting for the wrong person pushing the right button, saying the right words....and it will expload. Too many uneducated people, too much poverty, a gap between have's and have's not which is far too big, too much discrimination of minority groups...and so easy to start blaming it on those who are easy to spot and who "don't belong"...the Jews, the Americans, and ultimately all foreigners.

I recall an incident that happened to me a year ago: I had to take my cat to the vet and the parking lot which we had to enter was partially blocked so only one car at the time could pass the gate. We were entering when a car with an old lady behind the wheel came from the other side...and being Indian, she obviously thought she was entitled to drive out first, so she stopped, blocking everything, and started honking like mad. Finally I got out, told my driver to back up, and decided to walk (which meant I had to climb over heaps of stones and sand, with my cat carrier in my hand...very unconvenient). When I passed the car, she rolled down the window and screeched in the nastiest voice I ever heard "why don't you go back to your own country!"....I was too flabberghasted to say anything and I must have thought of a million equally nasty responses since then, but the bottom line is that I wish I could have.
And now, for the first time since that moment, I wish it again.

I hope it will pass because despite the hardship we experience living here India also has an amazing beauty and a lot of interesting things and places to offer, and I want to leave here with good memories. And terrorist attacks and bombings don't contribute to that...