On this past Saturday, February 13th at 7:00pm an explosive was set off at a popular restaurant in the city of Pune which is located about 2 hours east of Mumbai in India. The explosives were packed into a bag which was left unattended for sometime before a waiter at the German Bakery decided to investigate the bag, tripping the bomb which caused an explosion which resulted in 9 deaths and around 60 injuries. It was reported that the blast was so strong, and the place was populated enough to send body parts flying everywhere. This, was a terrorist attack.
The German Bakery is a local place which is frequented by Pune residents but also tourists as well. It is listed, and highlighted in the Lonely Planet guide to India in 2009. Two weeks ago I was in Pune for a couple days. I had decided to visit the German Bakery for a bite to eat and was headed there, along with 2 other cousins, before we got a call from one of my uncles and turned around to eat at home instead. But we drove by it, and I saw it multiple times.
The German Bakery is a local place which is frequented by Pune residents but also tourists as well. It is listed, and highlighted in the Lonely Planet guide to India in 2009. Two weeks ago I was in Pune for a couple days. I had decided to visit the German Bakery for a bite to eat and was headed there, along with 2 other cousins, before we got a call from one of my uncles and turned around to eat at home instead. But we drove by it, and I saw it multiple times.
The place is now different, its not just a site of debris, char and bloodstains, its a site of terror. It always seems that at times like these more questions are generated than answers:
Why would someone kill innocent people to prove a point?
What point was he/she trying to prove?
How can people hate other types of people so much based on race, ethnicity, gender, or cultural background enough to brutely murder members of that group in hopes of instilling fear in the larger group?
But of course these questions have no one answer. They just remind us that some people don't think at all alike. I think out of all the emotional responses an individual can have to this sort of action, the last emotion that should be succum to is fear. I won't allow myself to be affraid to travel to places and to live life avoiding interesting places. I won't be terrorized into a mental submission resulting in the limitation of my freedom or curiosity. No one group based on whatever values and beliefs will ever succeed in their goals, ultimately, through violence and hatred. It seems to be human nature to gravitate towards openness and freedom, towards compassion and integrity. And although we see all to often the times in which positive values are pushed away by negative ones, we should believe in the end product of peace and happiness for all. I believe its true that hatred only breeds more hate. I only hope that such a day comes sooner rather than later.
Lessons Learned:
- Fear is a vacuous black hole of happiness. No one can live happy and fearful. Embrace life and love and dispel hatred and fear.
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