The Mumbai attacks

The tragedy that unfolded over the last few days in Mumbai will require some time to process, but I think it is hard to overstate what a big deal this is.  For those who haven’t been there or who don’t have much first-hand exposure to India, Mumbai is a beautiful, complicated, sprawling, cosmopolitan city — so imagine what it would mean, for example, to have heavily-armed terrorists in New York City at the Plaza Hotel, Trump Towers, Grand Central Station and Madison Square Garden over the course of four days.

For Mumbai to be under siege for so many days will doubtless have serious repercussions in the psyche of that city and its residents, and the potential for these events to exacerbate tensions between India and Pakistan is troublesome to say the least.

My prayers go out to all of those who lost loved ones in recent days.

I also hope that someday we will live in a world where reports of tragedies like this one won’t single out the number of “foriegners” who were killed.  We are all human beings, and each life is of equal value.  With each article that is written, the news media can either reinforce or undermine this basic truth.

Enjoyed this?

Get the next post by email

A new post most Tuesdays. Free, and no spam, ever.

Sasha Dichter

I’m Sasha Dichter. I’ve written this blog since 2008, about generosity, fundraising, leadership and the long, slow work of pursuing mastery. By day I run 60 Decibels. More about me · Browse by topic

Comments

2 responses to “The Mumbai attacks”

  1. novice101 Avatar
    novice101

    A sad episode indeed. Share your exasperation:

    http://novice101.wordpress.com/2008/11/27/the-day-of-the-2ts-thanksgiving-vs-terrorism/

  2. Marc Avatar
    Marc

    Completely agree with that last point. It bothers me to see the US news stations reporting only on the Americans killed. I guess it helps bring it home for people, but it’s only a tiny part of the story. If no Americans were killed, would we be expected not to care?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.