Newspapers carried several stories; television channels flooded with similar messages. Outside some houses were small tributes on sheets of paper, and at railway stations, people remembered the fallen.But amid everything, it was everyday life in Mumbai: The traffic was congested, trains squashed with people during the rush hour, and the streets crowded with people.
And miles away from Mumbai, to commemorate the terrorist attacks, which has also been coined 26/11, three New Yorkers joined to pay their ode to the city.
Waris Ahluwalia, Tina Bhojwani, and Mortimer Singer released a compilation of “love letters” to India from people who are passionate about this land. “To India with Love, From New York to Mumbai” collects memorable notes, personal stories and pictures from people in different professions from all around the globe who have visited the country, also known as the land of the Maharajas. Contributors include luminaries from the world of fashion, film, art, music, politics, literature, and business. From Hollywood actors Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson to Bollywood’s Anil Kapoor, film directors James Ivory and Wes Anderson to Karan Johar, artist MF Hussain to fashion designer Silvia Venturini Fendi, journalist Fareed Zakaria, businessman Mukesh Ambani and 80 other names are a part of this project.
Ahluwalia, a designer, actor and an aspiring activist, compared the pain and suffering of the people during the terror attacks in Mumbai to the ones who faced the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City.
“In 2001, our city was hurt,” he said during the release of the book. “We were in pain and angry. The world responded with love.”
Shobhaa De, journalist, writer and one of the contributors to the book, reiterated that it was time for Mumbaikars to embrace love and forget the anger aggravated by the attacks and government tactics.
“We all know what happened,” she said. “How we dealt with it, how each one of us came to terms with it, that’s important,” she added mentioning the stories of heroism and courage of the people.
Ratan Tata, proclaimed business tycoon and a contributor for the book, praised the people and their efforts that brought them together in “those unfortunate days.” He said that people should “look at being Indian first and various communities second.”
Ahluwalia said this project was a way to show that people on the other side of the world care for and love India and Indians.
“This project was meant to bring light where there was darkness,” he said.
Bhojwani, a New York-based fashion executive, also related the pain of New Yorkers with that of Mumbaikars and said the project aims to “raise spirits, awareness and funds” for the ones scarred by the attack. A note from Singer, senior vice president of a New-York based management consulting firm, who wasn’t present at the occasion, resounded similar thoughts.
Bollywood actor and social activist Rahul Bose shared his rendition of Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech.
“This really isn’t about Bombay or Mumbai, this is my love song for India,” he said.
In his short speech, he mentioned about his dreams that civil society would unite in times of need, the new generation of leaders would go above and beyond to do their duties, 100 million children would not go to bed hungry everyday, and they would all have education one day, Section 377 that criminalizes homosexuality will be abolished, and Muslims who fled Bombay in 1992 following a religious riot will return to Mumbai.
“I have a dream that one day we’ll all stop what we’re doing and realize all of us together at the same precise moment that we’re all Indians,” Bose said.
Related story
China’s spring festival
