Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner

I was just eight years old when my city completely changed for me and showed me one of her ugly sides.Those were the days when Bombay was burning.I was in school then and in the middle of our class,the Principal of my school made an announcement on the mic that the current period would be the last and we had to leave for home after that.On listening to the news all of us erupted in joy, little did we know then what was happening around the city. Our teacher told us that there was a bomb blast in the city hence we were leaving the school early.I could sense something eerie in the air as I was returning home.

Thereafter for over a month the school was closed.

Apparently there were a series of  bomb blasts in the city on that day, the cycle of vengeance had started.The bomb blasts were an answer to Babri Masjid demolition which had taken place a month earlier in Northen India.

The crazy rumors people in my building were discussing were laughable, one such was that Pakistan is sending people with swords in ships and they will reach Bombay in a few days.One sad incident which appalled me was friend of mine making petrol bombs under the supervision of his parents.

Curfews were imposed during the days but one day I saw a gang of people raiding a shop owned by a Muslim gentleman from my window.

I was never much aware about different ideologies each religion had,I did have friends who were muslims, catholics and parsis but we never questioned each other why we had different kind of names or why we were different. But this school break did make us realise the difference.

As time passed by the rioting had slowed down and the school break which was for over a month long now felt like eternity. For a change I was looking forward to go back to school. The 

school did resume in January and one of our classmates called Nadeem didn't make it the first day.His mother had come weeping into the class to tell the teacher that their home was burned down during the riots and how they had barely survived, Nadeem was fine but will not be able to make it to school for a few days and she left.

After sometime after that one of my class mates tells us the class that once Nadeem comes back we need to beat him up.

This conversation somehow reached my teacher and I remember my teacher with tears in her eyes saying to my classmate "I will myself handover him to you".

At that time I didn't realise why there were tears in her eyes.

I think my teacher would have felt like Atticus would say to Jem "There's a lot of ugly things in this world, Son. I wish I could keep them away from you. That's never possible"