City puts up brave front

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Terror alert or not, Delhi is not scared. There are graver issues on a Delhiite’s mind than blasts. In response to a terror threat, Delhi is once again on high alert for 26/11, but it’s not new to the common man, who is used to seeing cops on the streets, especially during festivals and most recently the Commonwealth Games.

For some, the first response to a threat would be to avoid public places like markets, cinema halls and shopping malls, but others’ do not feel threatened. Surely, terror acts haven’t crushed the spirit of Delhi, but on special occasions, we walk with fear as our shadow.
It was probably her intuition that saved Rabia Kochhar, marketing freelancer on the fateful day of September 13, 2008, when serial blasts rocked Delhi including Greater Kailash M-Block market. “It was moments before the blast that I cancelled my plan with friends. It was a regular feature, every weekend hanging out at M-Block, and I still don’t know what made me back out. I live barely 40 steps away from the market, and I couldn’t bear to go there post the blast. Everything is back to normal now. For me, life goes on without fear. Everything is destined, you cannot alter that,” avers Rabia.
Fear is not a negative emotion according to clinical psychologist and director of Swanchetan Society for Mental health, Dr Rajat Mitra, who says, “It is a gift. It enhances your intuitive signals. Intuition is the most powerful predictor for human safety, research into calamity and other tragic situations has shown that intuition helps protect you and others. But unless fear is accompanied by education, it’s useless.” Talking about Rabia’s case, Dr Mitra says, “It was her inbuilt intuition perhaps, which stopped her well in advance. Women are much more intuitive then men. Every individual is scared for his own safety. And survival training is very crucial. This is missing here in our country. Nationalistic sentiment cannot help you deal with individual survival.”
However, former IPS officer and social activist Kiran Bedi believes that the common man also has the confidence that the system will respond. When such situations become little too often, they seem like false alarm. And people start taking chances. She validates, “There is an increased awareness of certain situations and willingness to report something suspicious. It has its pros and cons. If we engage them in an interesting way it can help, as better deterrence and prevention. Like technology being functional, and the general watch of vulnerable places by owning authorities be made responsible. Those not cooperating should be penalised.”
Sports filmmaker Sunil Yash Kalra who recently shot in Old Delhi says that it’s the three D’s — dengue, DDA and drunk driving that is Delhiites biggest threats than terrorists. “Delhiites showed character despite highest alert during CWG, they came out in large numbers with their families. Our city has has suffered many attacks and has become resilient now. There is no fear except when the media tries to create one.”