Year 2008.......

written below are few of my personal opinions on certain events that happened in 2008. comments on other events that you remember and want to write about are welcome.wish everyone a wonderful new year ahead.

Tragedy of the year --- 26/11, innocent lives were taken by armed terrorist who went on a killing spree, officers and hotel staff's were killed on duty .People who survived still go through post traumatic disorders and entire nation of billions went into a shock for several days.

Lightning of the year --- this was certainly usain bolt, never before in a olympics 100m final have seen a contestant celebrating and macking gestures even before touching the finish line.in the process he even broke all world record in that run.

Throw of the year --- if you had imagined this happened in bejing Olympics 2008 then you are wrong. this happened in a press conference in iraq when a iraqi journalist throwed a shoe at US president Bush. Overnight the journo became a hero and household name in all arab countries. last read in news that the shoe brand and maker is also making huge profit.

Costliest slap of the year --- Harbahajan to Sreesanth. the slap cost him 3 crores as he was suspended for the entire IPL season.

Costliest Fishing of the year --- Andrew Symonds fishing in darwin,Roy skipped a team meeting in the middle of a series with minnows bangladesh. this Fishing trip made CA drop him for the India series, and his comeback after that is not a great success till date.

Child of the year --- Moshe, 2 year old baby saved by an indian nanny, saw both of his parents being killed and bled to death. a large community of israel was in tears when the final rites were performed after a week in israel. An isareli rabbi has this to say to moshe ""moshe ...you might not have a mother who will
hug you, but you are the child of entire israel""...for many the symbol of 26/11 attack was this baby crying outside the building in the arms of an indian nanny.

Shooter of the year --- no it is not Abhinav Bindra, it was actually a railway police in CST terminus mumbai, who dared to come before a terrorist with a normal .303 m rifle, take aim and shoot at him. Unlike bindra his shot might not have hit the target or did not win him a gold medal, but everybody who has knowledge of arms and weapon would know that it is a suicide to go and confront a guy with AK47. video of this incident was another defining images of 26/11.

Politician of the year --- Rahul Gandhi, has this to say to Rajnath singh when he was considered a bacha(kid) by opposition. ""I am still a bachcha""....“However, fortunately or unfortunately for him (Rajnath Singh), 70 percent people of India who are powering the country are also bachchas,”

Gymnastic of the year --- rajnikant for his somersault, after sensing that his film is not going to be screened in karanatka, apologised for his statement earlier on hoganekkal issue, this came as a shocker to many tamilians and was one of the several factors that made his movie a huge flop of the year.

Moshe...

well this post is going to be pretty confusing as to what i intend to say, feel free to comment or condemn this post.

what is our tolerance towards terrorism.15 years after 93 mumbai serial blasts, when we seem to get pictures of dawood in wedding celebration..intelligence agency is not able to spot him...few years back it was reported that intelligence agents did managed to spot him in karachi, no operation was done as he was gaurded by armed motorcade for a length of an entire street.
there is still a national and political debate on the death sentence of the terrorist involved in parliament attack.
just hours before being killed in the attack, hemant karkare the ATS chief was seen explaining his investigation in malegon blasts, the accused his team found apparently was sent out in bail, and he was criticized for his investigation by a major political party.

Today we see rallies being held everywhere, debate and a national consensus and hatred against politicians and government, how did the public respond after Gujarat riot, did'nt we elect modi again. today everybody speaks about the sacrifice made by NSG comandos and mumbai police in the attack, how would the public or media respond if there was a hijack situation and a ransom for release of captured terrorist is made, would we remember these commandos then, remember how JeM chief was released after the IC-814 hijack in kandahar, if i remember correctly there were heavy demonstration by public and opposition parties for release of terrorist. I think in situations like this it is very difficult to debate on what is right and what is wrong and whom to blame.

terrorism is a global threat, so called super power countries are still fighting it. for US it was '9/11', for russia it was 'beslan tragedy', for UK it was july 7 london attack, for India it is Mumbai 26/11....US managed to make a war against the attack, other countries had counter terrorism operations, few succeeded. I guess this attack surely would have some counter operations by India and will succeed against terrorism, till then my daily prayers would have few extended lines for me and fellow countrymen.