The Scar (e) of a Bomb Blast

21^st February 2013, Thursday - It was just few minutes past 7 PM (IST) and I was as usually seated in the last row of the office bus in a quite relaxed fashion with my legs swayed upon the handle of the seat in the penultimate row. All of a sudden, when the bus had stopped at the (TV Tower) traffic signal, I heard a big sound. One of my colleagues, who was sleeping in the seat beside me woke up to the impact of the sound produced and was caught unawares. Then, I immediately went to the cabin of the driver and started to enquire what was that sound. The driver replied that it might be due to some gas cylinder blowing off. The bus started moving and while we were talking, we heard another whopping sound. We saw few objects flying into the sky at a distance of around 500-550 meters ahead of us. People started to yell and run helter-skelter. Our bus received mild vibrations. Then, we confirmed that it was no gas cylinder but a nerve-flinching bomb blast. Our bus did not stop. It moved on. As it crossed the bomb blast sites, we witnessed scores of blood flowing on the opposite side of the road and smoke engulfing from the roadside tea corner, the roof of which was in shackles. We were among those to watch the first glimpses after the blasts. The site is a very busy commercial area with hundreds of students, working labor, customers, and hawkers moving every ten minutes. After reaching home, and upon seeing the news, I came to know that I had my rebirth thanks to the traffic signal. If only the traffic signal wouldn’t have stopped our bus, we would have been directly opposite to the place of bomb blasts on the other side of the road.

My parents upon seeing the news scrolls in the Television, called me frantically just to know where I was. Likewise, the parents of many, few of whom are not so lucky! I tried to call my friends but to no avail. I came to know later that all the signals had been jammed in the surrounding areas moments after the blasts went off. The gruesome pictures flashing in the news channels, the screams of the people, the oodles of blood flowing on the road can never be forgotten in my life. The persons who suffered grave injuries included those who had either lost their limbs or eyes; whose hearing capacity was impaired; and, whose body parts were mangled – these disturbing images made me to ruminate for one moment that if this is the ‘Progressive India’ aspired, by the great leaders’ struggle and sacrifices (against the colonial rule of the British to achieve freedom for their people), on the successive generations to take the nation forward!

The pathos of these people is inexplicable in words. Their lives will no more be the same. The daily wage-earners cannot earn owing to the loss of their primary limbs and the students cannot continue their studies owing to the loss of their vision. The families and the dependants of these victims will be shattered owing to the disruption in their means of survival. Though the Government has announced compensation package to the victims, it does mean very little to them as the wounds inflicted by these bomb blasts are not only physical in form but also cause them mental distress as their daily lives are jeopardized. This agony through which one has to go through is devastating. Even before the ugly reminiscences of the earlier blasts in the city (2007 Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park blasts) are wiped out from the memories of the inhabitants, another grisly incident struck deep into the heart of a common citizen, the effect of which might even damage one’s morale of subsisting a ‘safe’ life in a city like Hyderabad.