Why so much?

How much protection does a common Indian need to survive in this terror-ridden country?
Ask a commuter who takes the suburban train to office regularly. S/he would certainly say that office-goers like him/her have no option but to leave everything to Almighty. The reason is simple: hardly a policeman could be spotted on the trains that too during the morning and evening peak hours.

Ask the same question to one who takes the underground Metro for regular travel. S/he would say the carbine-toting policemen at the entry to the stations at least provide them with some sense of security. To this day, India has not witnessed a terrorist attack on either the Calcutta or Delhi Metro, unlike the Tube in London. Higher level of security at Metro stations instils a safety quotient in us.

Ask the person, who has just come out in the open on the road from Metro, the same question. Again, insecurity creeps in; if there is a bomb hidden in the bicycle parked on the pavement. Yesterday, an incident on the 2338 Santiniketan Express proved that people are more aware than ever before. A guy comes with a blue middle-sized bag to take a seat opposite me in one of the unreserved coaches of the superfast train. No sooner had the train pulled out of Bolpur than a man seated by the window raised an alarm, as the person could not be spotted but only his blue bag. I asked him to ask the person talking over cellphone standing on the door whether it was him who kept the bag on the seat. He confirmed, and all of us, about 15 by then, heaved a sigh of relief.

Basically, it is our responsibility to thwart terror attacks, especially when the intelligence bureau and men in khaki fail to protect us time and again. Our office has also joined the bandwagon of being paranoid of a possible attack — from Mujahideens to Maoists. I don’t know why. Maybe i am too inexperienced to understand the network of things: from terrorists plotting a strike on a newspaper’s office to frisking female employees on the footpath!

Could the private security guards wearing different shades of blue prevent a white Toyota laden with explosives from ramming into the palatial white house, our office, like that in the Indian embassy in Kabul last month? Perhaps not. Had this happened, 9/11 would not ever take place. So is 7/7, 7/ 11... the list is endless, as usual. If a terrorist organisation wants to deal a blow, there is hardly any machinery that can secure our lives. But our awareness can do and for this, we don’t need metal detector, but a good mental space laden not with RDX, but a sense of humanity; feeling for fellow human beings; caring for good earth that we live in.