Hush! New York fall-out is here....

By Bindu Jacob

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 15. Have you experienced this recently? Stood speechless with an overwhelming sense of love tinged with fear, or held on to your friend's hand a bit tighter, kissed your mother a bit longer, knowing that nothing lasts forever?

It is all about the fears of ordinary people -- housewives, students, teachers, vegetable vendors, even children. This past Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the U.S. have changed the very concept of fear, making it much more sinister. All one needs to do is look a bit closer, scratch the surface a bit deeper to know that while fear does not change, what one fears is changing constantly.

``After the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane I was on in 1999, I am scared to board planes. They remind me of the hell I had to undergo for no fault of mine. We were up against people who like us were made of flesh and blood but I saw the worst human form. And that is something which scares me to this day,'' says Ramesh Kumar, a passenger aboard IC-814 which was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

Fear of flying, death, destruction and pain refuses to die down among Delhiites, and the attacks on the U.S. have obviously changed more than just the skyline of New York. War and a probable attack on New Delhi are also something that seems to have crept under the skin of people here giving them sleepless nights. Old villains like road rage and earthquake scare have given way to the fear of a World War.

``Terrorism of the kind witnessed in the U.S., quakes and droughts are my worst fears. They cause large-scale destruction, dislocation and suffering,'' says Ms. Kiran Bedi, the Delhi Police ``Super Cop''.

``A nuclear war and its fall-out scares me. It is worse than a natural catastrophe. War is senseless, it is people against people. What can be scarier than that, where you can't trust your neighbour, perhaps even your best friend? Haven't we witnessed that during Partition?'' says Dr. Rajasekhar of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.

``Religious fanatics scare me. The possibility of a war scares me most. Delhi would be the first to be hit in that case,'' fears Mr. Rahul Dutta, Information Officer (Traffic) at World Wildlife Fund.

Even children are not left untouched by fear and the images of a possible war. ``I am scared that there will be a World War, maybe Pakistan will hit us with tanks. I am also scared of ghosts and darkness,'' chips in Joseph John, Class V student of Francis de Sales.

``Drugs, irresponsible living and rusting moral values scare me. I don't know whether my children will be lost in the sea of greed and corruption. What happened in the U.S. can happen in our lives,'' says Mr. Jacob Abraham, supervisor in a bank here.

Most Delhiites agree that life today needs more than just courage to carry on. Perhaps it is the spirit of human endeavour which stands out against all odds. There are Delhiites who believe that ``hope never dies and fear dare not kill''!

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