Mumbai offers of help, via @nitinsgr
Terrorism often provokes, well, terror and division. Natural disasters, by contrast, usually invoke solidarity. That’s why it’s striking to see… this spreadsheet. It’s a sheet of Mumbaikars and Indians volunteering to help. And it’s not an isolated incident.
Terrorism has no content. It’s just terror. It could be about distant massacres or injustices, but it’s only the massacre that gets communicated. The violence is small in physical scale (not that a hundred is small, but it is relative to the thousands or millions of deaths in the last century) but it is primarily a media phenomenon. The shock waves spread through the air and the airwaves, clogging phone lines and conversations and, eventually, hearts. It’s something in Sri Lanka we knew all to well. It’s something India has also come to know.
The reaction of Indians thus far, however, is compelling. I love Mumbai. Of all Indian cities it’s my favorite. I walked the streets for literally hours, not really going anywhere. There’s just a vibe about the place, the place is alive. Still.