I believe in miracles. In a Mumbai public bus, yesterday, I saw a lady standing with a five-year-old in her arms. None of the passengers offered her a seat, though somebody offered half a seat to her child. The kid did not take up the offer. I gave her my seat and moved away from the crowd to the front. A gentleman got off. In a flash I had got back a seat. Good deeds beget good deeds. But what about bad deeds?

Since terror Tuesday I have been fighting tears on several occasions. While watching gory images on television, reading about victims in newspapers, or while passing by memorials erected for blast victims by Mumbai’s cub political outfit, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. I am not the only one weeping. In many parts of the city, tears are spilling into a war cry. At street corner discussions, there is more than a mention about how the US and Israel would have responded.

War is certainly not a wise option. But the government is doing precious little to assuage fears of the common man; except putting up banners that salute the “battered” spirit of the Mumbaikar. Otherwise the administration points fingers at LeT and SIMI, like a schoolchild giving excuses for incomplete homework.

Excuse One: Terror takes birth across the border.

Our politicians are completely missing the point or side-stepping the real issue. Terrorists do damage in our midst. It’s our home that requires pest control.

The other excuse: Nobody commends us for the several terrorist attempts that we manage to thwart. Terrorists have to get lucky only once.

Can a pharmaceutical company give this excuse after a single batch of its drugs react the wrong way? Can foods companies that bottle products like jams and sauces afford to fail, only once? Let’s get real. Only zero-defect works here.

If it’s not excuses, politicians take the opportunity to settle scores, or win favours from their votebank. BJP leader Gopinath Munde takes on supercop, P S Pasricha, when the cop should be focusing on investigations rather than defend his media briefing. Mulayam Singh gives SIMI a clean chit in UP, as if the rest of the country does not matter. Imagine, something like this happening in the US after 9/11.

What Mumbai does not need is a war of words. The city administration and the citizens need to back the police. A transfer or a shake-up of the top brass at this juncture could be counter-productive. Even the move to recall cops who were heading the 1993 blast cases, to probe the current disaster is not a nice one. An HR professional says, this sends a message that the present members of the Anti Terrorist Squad are not good enough. Even otherwise our police force does not boast of a high morale.

Our politicians say we will not kneel before the terrorists. But at this moment, even the terrorists are standing tall. Maybe, it’s Mumbai city that needs a miracle. As I wind up this piece, a quote attributed to J R Tolkien, pops up in my inbox:  ”Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens”. Keep the faith.