Two horrible events...

During these first weeks of our stay here in Mumbai, lots have happened. In addition to trying to settle in with normal life here and try somehow to learn the norms and expectations (among other things, I am now an employer for 2 staff), there have been two horrific incidents during these weeks; bombings here in Mumbai and bombing/shooting at home in Norway. These are both events that have been filling up the news channels here and both very shocking, awful actions.  



South Mumbai



The bombs here in Mumbai went off in the south and central part of the city, which are areas we usually don’t travel in our everyday life as we live in the north of Mumbai and I also work in the northern part of the city. Though we had actually planned to go down south the morning after the bombings, this got postponed as Mumbai was on high alert after this incident. Mumbai is also a very large city with a population of 20 million so even if we were in the area; chances would have been small that we got hit by the bomb. It does however feel close as it is in the city we live and I think it is such a horrible thing to do and the beautiful people of Mumbai do not deserve this.  



 

Oslo



We were still a bit shaken up by the Mumbai bombings when the terrible news came from Norway... A bomb in Oslo and shootings at Utøya. It was like a horror movie and really difficult in a way to understand that something like this could happen in the safe, small country of Norway. It is just so sad. I think that because of the scale of it and the distance it has taken some time for me for it to actually sink in. At the first day in the office here after this horrible incident, the ones that talked to me about it all said that for something like this to happen in Norway was just so unbelievable, that these things happen here in India and Asia was one thing (they are unfortunately more use to these kinds of incidents), but in Norway…I assume it says something about people’s perception of Norway as a peaceful and quiet country. And it still is when you look at the way the people back home have reacted to this with tears, roses and love, which makes me really proud of my home country.

After these two incidents, and particular the last one, the smile has not been present during my drive to and from the office. This hour is my hour of silence and thoughts. And one can impossibly think happy thoughts when the images from this terror are still very much present in the mind. It is now almost a week since this happened and I hope and think that the mind has room for both this tragic incident and all the amazing things I experience here every day. In fact, I think I will try my best to move the first part to my heart and keep the memory of all the lives lost and hurt the 22^nd of July 2011 there.

I will continue to post more articles about our everyday life in Mumbai, though keep in mind that even if the stories can be funny and the experiences great, there is still a place in my heart that is occupied with sorrow.