Mumbai

When I went to bed at 3 am, I figured that I would wake up this morning to the aftermath, to stories of what happened, to reports coming from a city that had experienced tragedy.  Sort of like New York in the weeks after 9-11.  It’s difficult to wake up and see a situation that’s still ongoing, with fires and hostages and explosions, with people still not sure what’s going on.  It’s too familiar, it’s too much like Trinidad in 1990.

It’s a little bit like re-living the most traumatic experience of your life.  Not quite re-living it, but kinda.  I don’t know.

Incredibly tragic, incredibly disturbing.

Update: Neha Viswanathan at Global Voices writes

Anger at the media for their coverage of the terror attacks in Mumbai is apparent on the blogosphere. For one, the mainstream media appears to have taken the approach of “shock and shake”, as opposed to verifying rumors before reporting them. But the nation appears glued to their television sets, as it is probably the most “live” source of information at this point in time.

Eighteen years ago, I was deeply struck by the difference between CNN’s coverage of the coup and that of the BBC.  CNN appeared to be reporting every rumour that circulated in TT, while the BBC’s reporting was far more measured.  Usually I see the expansion of media – cable news and new media – as a good thing.  But at times like this, there’s something to be said for measured old media.

Update II: Vinukumar Ranganathan posted a remarkable collection of pictures last night from Mumbai.  I saw some of them on CNN last night, but it’s only this morning that I took a look at them.

I ramble on here…