"Aye dil, hai mushkil, jeena yahaan, zara hatke, zara bachke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan"
*Yes Raj Thackeray, sue me, I said Bombay. Besides, that's almost all that you can do*

This song, does kind of express the 'Spirit of Mumbai', the Maximum City of India, the Tinsel Town. But for once (again), Mumbai has been brought down to it's knees, as columnist Sushmita Bose puts it. Mumbai, at heart, is a normal city. It has fallen, again, it has been burnt, beaten, beaten till it was exhausted, till it could bear no more. Any city by this time would've asked for time to cry, to mourn, to gather all its fallen pieces and stand straight. But this is precisely where Mumbai's extra-ordinary 'spirit' comes in. It has composed it's grief, only to project it into anger, anger that will rage like embers. The bombs are now silent, but replaced, by the screams of lakhs of Mumbaikars, all supported by a Billion other Indians.
It was first, a fight against terror. A battle, rather, A battle that raged on for three days. A battle that left hundreds of families mourning and countless others numb. A battle, that left a nation to repent its regardless attitude towards its bravehearts. I salute the martyrs of the inhuman terror strikes - ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, Mr. Salaskar, Ashoke Kamte, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan among numerous others.

But, there is one more accomplishment that must be accredited to this terror strike, something, that it most definitely intended - it has shaken, stired and finally woken up a Billion Indians. It has given voice to gazillions of emotions, which are now outpouring throughout the cyberspace, expressing themselves in newspapers, on radio, and some, silently doing their bit. The fire has been lit, and I see it extinguishing not in near future. Change will come. It HAS to. We will bing it. It's time we shine in more than merely the stock market. Of what avail is the 8% growth in the GDP, when we cannot assure our citizens of the most basic safety? Will the vows to reform the system, take affirmative action, make India shine, remain merely well-written phrases in our ministers' election speeches? Or is it something we're actuaaly going to do?

Here is the story of Harish Iyer, a responsible citizen, who made an effort, and greatly succeeded, in doing his bit.
Support Harish and people like him.
DO your Bit.

Our fists are clenched in resolve.
The fire is yet burning.
Please, don't let it extinguish, please!
Heal the World. Make It a Better Place. For You. And For Me. And the Entire Human Race.

"ऐ मेरे वतन के लोगों, ज़रा आँख में भर लो पानी, जो शहीद हुएं हैं उनकी, ज़रा याद करो कुर्बानी"

Update at 1655 hrs IST: The Times of India consultant editor and noted food critic, Sabina Sehgal Saikia's sad demise has now been conformed. Let's pray for her soul to RIP.