THE TAXI TAKES ON TERROR
What happens when people from different class backgrounds, literacy levels or religious faiths sit across from each other in a taxi and take a journey together? Can this setting provide fertile ground for a rich dialogue about modern terrorism?
October 14th, 2009 at 8:15 am
One question also that needs to be raised is…why does this have to be termed India’s 9/11? Was the incident not terrible enough to stand alone? Does it have to be termed as “India’s 9/11″ in order to bring to fore the seriousness of the situation?
I feel that this coinage (which the media was behind) is not right. Our problems and disasters should be serious enough for us. The media should not be looking to clarify to the west why it is such a terrible thing. India’s 9/11 only serves to do that. Sadly, it’s playing out a mindset that is colonised.
No one in India needs to hear the tag in order to understand just how terrible and devastating the incident in Bombay was…then who is it catering to and why?
October 16th, 2009 at 9:58 am
This is a very valid point and I’m happy to see media people like you questioning this term and usage. I agree that India does not need to coin the term, ‘India’s 9/11′ to bring to light the seriousness and calamity of the situation.
However at the same time, for those not aware of the larger political climate in South East Asia, the term ‘India’s 9/11′ can to some extent convey the larger links between 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan and what is being played out between modern Indo- Pak terrorism.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
what an interesting question.
I absolutely agree with anyone who objects to their unique horrible experience is being connected to, and being given meaning by, someone else’s experience. This kind of comparative suffering has always struck me as demeaning everyone’s suffering.
Here’s the problem:I have seen this happen so much that I wonder if it isn’t part of the inevitable attempt that all people make after experiencing a catastrophe to find meaning, to find connections, to make sense. These kinds of events demand that we make sense, if only to keep our sanity.
But the result is that one person’s hurt becomes subsumed into another person’s hurt.
It’s a real dilemma.
November 27th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Possibly the general conundrum of catastrophe is that there is no meaning, no sense, no predictive possibilities. How can one be certain he or she is never in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or in the unanticipated company of the wrong people?
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI USA
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:51 am
What a brilliant project and dialogue to pursue! If only big money from professional sports, military missions and the hadron collider would pour into this kind of human exploration, perhaps fewer hearts would be weeping.
December 13th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
India’s 9/11 would only be true if India had gone to war with Pakistan. The maturity with which dialogue can play a role in good relations is underestimated.
Steve. I agree. Another person’s suffering can become yours if you empathize and find common ground to your own pain.
Thank you for helping dig deeper in this dialogue about Modern Terrorism.
This is what can help humanity and bring peace.
The Taxi Takes aim for this!
February 5th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Indians love to play ‘follow the leader’. Imagine USA ever calling 9/11 as American 26/11.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
The notion that Indians love to play ‘follow the leader’ is a very provocative and interesting one. I feel that it is reflected most seriously in the way that India is measuring and defining economic success (as per the Western neoliberal economic policy criterion of GDP growth, trade volume, access to finance), and not based on the standard and quality of life for India’s rural majority. In the cities too, the marker of wealth and success are very much based on how much material and financial access people have to Western imported goods, lifestyle, and travel to/education in Western places. It’s this bedrock upon which things are measured in our society that causes ‘follow the leader.’
At the same time, when national sovereignty and dignity is threatened, a very patriotic and defensive stance is also taken. But this can be seen across many developing countries. What’s really unique about Indian culture and society is how it sustains and celebrates both western and national lifestyles, habits, perceptions.
February 21st, 2011 at 9:38 am
I’m against terrorism. Why in India)
April 28th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
This is very nice and interesting blog on taxi. The comments are even more interesting…like it..!
May 5th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
At the same time, when national sovereignty and dignity is threatened, a very patriotic and defensive stance is also taken. But this can be seen across many developing countries. What’s really unique about Indian culture and society is how it sustains and celebrates both western and national lifestyles, habits, perceptions.
August 31st, 2011 at 7:57 pm
Just today I was telling someone that India and it’s citizens are proud and patriotic but when it comes to terrorists attacks, we let them go to some extent because we can’t keep count. The common man just has to get themselves back up and get back to work. With the coming 10 year Anniversary of 9/11, I would say America has taken a very different stance this past decade. Starting the War on Terror and holding on has only created a more tragic and divided World. I’d definitely hope that 26/11 is not considered India’s 9/11. At the same time India needs to actively protect itself from terror. Gandhi’s non violence or active aggression like America?