The best kind of men – upright, gutsy, bright and committed, valued and needed so deeply by the families they have left behind – gone in one stroke. Jaanbaaz – who thought only of their role in ridding the city and the country of the perpetrators of terror and gave their lives to this effect. While most people take cover when faced with danger, these men choose the role of protectors, over all others – fathers, sons, husbands....

The whole country mourns – Mumbai oscillates between depression, frustration and anger. People want so much to be shown which way they must proceed – where to begin! In Dehradun too, where I am, their pictures are on the side of the main road with ordinary people stopping to salute, offer flowers and shed a tear in acknowledgement of their debt to us all. ‘Shat shat naman’ someone has written on the poster next to the photos. The one terrorist who has been caught to tell the story was caught while escaping in their vehicle and that too because a brave ASI clung on to the gun while the terrorist riddled his body with bullets.

There comes a time in the life of an individual or a nation when they are pushed to introspection. The raging fire in such familiar, everyday landmarks; the over 200 you-and-I kind of people killed over 70 hours of terror; the havoc and countless heroic stories, have heralded in one such intense time. After long, the country has felt a tug and is asking questions – and both the political and bureaucratic world are taking note. India seems to be moving into togetherness. That would be one big change if we went beyond regions and language or caste to being one people and country with a common cause! After all, these policemen and commandos did not discriminate on regions and caste when they gave their lives! Our fondest and most enduring candle lit in their memory would be just this awareness and shift.

We are clamouring for change on the political scenario, for bombing terrorist camps in Pakistan and other such actions. How about making some changes in the society we live in? People get the government they deserve…. How about looking inwards to see what kind of people we are?

We are a society ridden with the effects of corruption. We want to pay our way out of any situation, to find shortcuts to get things done or even to get ahead of the pack. We are happy to wait patiently in immigration queues abroad but these same people will pull strings to get ahead when they come back to their own country!

India is weighed down with people used to looking the other way for consideration, or its mate, callousness and apathy. Enquiry reports will reveal what it was that let the policemen down at that fateful hour – the bullet proof vests, the helmets or the car but whatever it was we are a generation born and grown on poor quality infrastructure, discipline and equipment – and only rarely do we pause to resist or protest!

In the lessons from the tragedy we more or less agree that:

• We need a national level Emergency Response System, for acts of terrorism and natural disasters.
• We need a command and control system for proactive intelligence gathering, dissemination and risk management.
• We need accountability of our polity and our bureaucracy.
• There must be set up systems for effective communication mechanisms.
• We need a single window system for disaster recovery, aid and trauma management.
• We must use the best knowledge in the world to improve our policing, anti-terrorism and intelligence gathering capabilities.
• We sorely need to equip and train our forces better.
  And so on.... But all these would only be as good as we ourselves are. How about changing the way we behave? How about using this time to make some resolutions as citizens? How about pledging that:
• I will not use any benefit nor ask for anything that is not rightly mine.
• I will bring some discipline into public life – even in small things like not throwing garbage out into the street.
• I will not pay bribes to ease my way.
• I will not look the other way when I see injustice. Are we ready for these pledges?

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