Character comes out in Crisis

Dec 13, 2001, New Delhi: Terrorists attack Indian parliament, killing 12 people including six policemen. The heroes - Security personnel manning the entrance who showed exemplary display of courage in restraining the terrorists (and gave up their lives in the process)

July 11, 2006, Mumbai: At least 135 dead in serial blasts in suburban trains at during rush hour in the evening. The heroes-Dipak Singh Chauhan and many others like him, who instead of running away from the scene of blasts, chose to stay and help those writhing in pain.

Nov 26, 2008 (Mumbai): Terrorists strike the heart of Mumbai . The heroes-the likes of Deepak Kuntawala who helped hundreds escape from the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai. Mumbai fire staff who braved the gunfire and flames to rescue those trapped on higher floors.

Everytime a crisis strikes, a few ordinary humans through their determination and will of steel transform themselves into real life heroes. It is when the crisis strikes, their character comes out.

Yes, i do believe that character comes out in crisis...because its a test of our strength, courage and determination..its a test of our desire to live and let others live. However at the same time its unfortunate, that we need a crisis to wake us up, to bring out what we have in us..and soon as that crisis gets lost in everyday news, our character goes back to sleep. We forget our duties, and responsibilities, that we should help others, even if its not a crisis..we forget that we are heroes.

From bribing traffic policemen to avoid challan, to income tax personnel to evade the tax net, instead of trying to change the system we have become a part of it. How many of us take the pains of voting on election day? How many of us are aware of our rights and duties as mentioned in the constitution? It is letharginess on our part that invites such crisis, that eventually makes us a victim of these crisis. The question is not only whether character comes out in crisis or not, but also how many more crisis do we need before our character comes out, strong enough to prevent any more of such crisis.

As the Tata Tea advertisment on TV clearly states..its high time we wakeup..Jaago Re