insecure elements of the human mind

we live in difficult times.
26/11 has been played over and over, yet the details remain fuzzy. by now, most of us have an idea of what happened: a group of people managed to hold an entire city hostage.
and the 24-hour news channels have continually reminded us: this is war, this was a precise military-style operation, and that lashkar-e-taiba [the alleged conspirators; their past attacks on India doesn't help their we-did-not-do-it-Hindu-nationalists-are-framing-us theory either] had help from the Pakistan military and the omnipresent nemesis of India:the ISI.
then the morning papers: damaged sushi bars, a shattered 5-star heritage hotel, the survivors' tales of horror.

it's all around us. it pervades our innermost senses wherever we go. it is in the back of our heads, our sub-conscious minds tell us, beware, there could be another. from discussing it at a friend's wedding to a what-the-hell-just-happened-to-India debate over a round of drinks: 26/11 is everywhere. it pervades it to such an extent that you are unsure about the person who agreed to pay your auto fare to the metro station because he was getting late and the driver didn't have change; that the man inside the metro with a backpack looks threatening, that a faulty silencer sounds like the piercing rattle of an AK-47, that everywhere you go, there is a nagging doubt at the back of your mind telling you to look out, find a safe area.

we truly live in difficult times.