Friday, July 22, 2005

The Terrorist

picture courtesy: http://americaohyes.com/
Disclaimer: This story is purely my imagination and any resemblance to any individual living or dead is sheer coincidence.
He opened his eyes and was welcomed by the warm rays of the early morning sun pouring into his room through his Venetian blinds. His anxiety grew as he looked at his watch; it was 9:00AM. He was late for work, again. He washed his face and scrambled around his bathroom looking for the mouthwash. After what seemed an eternity he finally found it. He finished his ablutions and finally got ready for work. A copy of the Koran was waiting for him in the hallway. He knelt down to his knees and prayed hard to Allah. It was his first prayer of the day; he had to do it five times each day. He remembered his mother telling him as a child the importance of seeking god’s blessings before he left home.
He had to reach central London. His mother would be waiting for him; she had something important to give him. He went down the subway and waited anxiously for the train. He did not notice the whirring sound of the closed circuit cameras. They were taking pictures of him. The train approached and he was soon traveling at god speed to central London. I will be there by 9:45 he thought. Allah! It’s been so long since I saw mother. She must be looking out for me. 9:45AM: a thunderous blast shook the tube station, shards of glass and debris hit him hard, he was thrown yards away by the impact of explosion, before he breathed his last, he remembered his mothers last words, “mein tumhare liye intezaar karoongi beta” (I will wait for you).
The news paper next day carried his face on the first page and below his picture was the caption “suspected suicide bomber…”

20 comments:

Venky Krishnamoorthy said...

Robbie, Good post.

cosmicblob said...

Robbie
Yes - trajic that innocent people are suspected because of the actions of a few terrorists.

I watched a short film conveying the same thing recently - it's a 19 minute short comedy called "Viva Liberty" by Dishad Hussain, a graduate of National Film school of UK. It brought out this sad fact in a humorous manner.

p.s. Found the pic you posted conveying a totally different meaning from what you have posted - is it just me?

pk said...

Its sad that such things are happening even after quite a bit of awarness after 9/11. But they might say they are juz doing their job.

Robbie said...

venky:
thanks for stopping by and glad you liked it.

Cosmic:
The picture was meant to be against what I tried to say in the story. But the picture also has an interesting point. If you look carefully you will see it. I will let you look long and hard at it and do not forget to read what is written at the foot of the picture.


Kali:
Yeah, unfortunately nothing is worse than labelling an innocent man as a terrorist and that too after he is dead.

Ganesh said...

sad but true, happens all over the world.

Arvind Srinivasan said...

Robbie,
No Comments :P

Narayanan Venkitu said...

First - Great post.

I was talking to adengappa about something similar. Racial profiling etc. and his experiences of Friday.

You can look at it both sides.

Bottomline - All the agencies, people have to be very careful and not jump to any conclusion.

PS - I am very concerned these days about how I look. I try to shave everyday ! Not sure why.! But my kids/wife tell me - You look better with a neatly shaven face.!

Robbie said...

narayanan:
lol,I agree with ur wife and kids...too many grey hairs in ur dhadi:p

Balaji said...

robbie, nice story. have u seen 'arlington road'. deals with the same theme...

ioiio said...

Positive side for that boy is
Free Publicity

Anonymous said...

Robbie,
Nice story.

And regarding the link, the problem the authorities face is that "the common public" is always looking for some action. They want somebody nabbed with regards to the bombing. If nothing is happening for some time, the people start blaming the authorities of inaction. It's a tough world, this - whether you are a cop or just a JAST (Just Another Subway Traveller)!

Jo said...

Nice post, Robs. Media plays a big part in keeping such hatred towards a particular community on the basis of religion. They should have done otherwise.

(religious) Terrorists are everywhere in the world. Be it Muslims, Christians, Hindus.. whoever... But does that mean we should keep hatred towards the whole community?

Robbie said...

hey balaji:
I havent seen arlington road, I have read a few of your reviews though and thought that they were awesome.

hey ioiio:
well he surely didnt want that kind of publicity

Raman: Yeah, but just working under pressure and converting innocents into militants is not a good thing.

Jo:
glad you liked it, that was the whole point of the post.

Balaji said...

robbie, 'arlington road' is definitely watchable. the ending kinda shocks u the first time. though the logistics behind it don't really make a lotta sense...

Chinmayi Sripada /Chinmayee said...

good one... and thanks for linking to my Blog!

Robbie said...

balaji:
I will try watching it soon

chinmayi:
what a surprise! thanks for taking time off your busy schedule to visit my blog.

Swahilya Shambhavi said...

Very well written, Robbie.
Swaha

Robbie said...

Swahilya:
Thank you, I am honored by your response to my post. I feel like I have learnt a lot from you through my interactions in your blogsite. I seriously wish more people visiting my blog visit yours.

jack said...

good one da.Did u hear the other news.one guy was wrongly short dead??.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wobraz254357784jul25,0,2820490.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines

eyeStreet times said...

Robs...nice story line. I once saw a similar themed movie starring Jeff Bridges. Cant recollect the name of the movie at present.
Anyways, you could have used another picture dude. This one looks a wee bit controvercial !