While walking into the Manchester Arena to be enthralled by Ariana Grande, 22 innocent children and youngsters could not have imagined the devastation that lay before them. All it took was a merciless act of cowardice. With 22 killed, dozens injured and numerous families grieving, Manchester was subjected to the unkindest evil of all, but the city and its inhabitants stand resolute.
A city with an undying spirit, Manchester is slowly and with a whole lot of heart and soul getting back on its feet. Swarnalatha Kanagala-Mabon, a businesswoman from the city who works and is married in the UK, talks about the unbreakable spirit of the city even as the vigil saw people crying uncontrollably. “Today (Wednesday), I got onto the train to Manchester for work, which was over-crowded, not empty! People were sad and supportive, not racist or mean! The city is back on its feet.
“Yes, you can sense anxiety and fear, when your home is under attack, but one can also feel the courage and universal bravery of every single person who stepped out of home and got on with life. No religion preaches killing children or humans. You can’t use religion as an excuse for incomprehensible barbaric acts,” she adds.
Anil Nagaragatta who works at IBM, says, “Yeah, it was scary. We were at home sleeping... Other parts of the city were not much affected at the time of the blast as it was during the night. Infact, we came to know about the blast when we got a phone call from Bengaluru. The city centre is back to normal, shops and offices are working as usual. People are settling down, some offices have asked their employees to work from home.”
City girl Sabina Moojani Kapoor was in Manchester with her son, a huge football fan. She posted, “Glad to be safe and out of Manchester just a few hours before the crazy unfortunate act of terror... One must count our blessings, so sad for the little ones. In London today, the changing of guard at Buckingham Palace has been cancelled. Westminster Tours too. The military is providing armed guards in key locations like Buckingham Palace, Downing Street,” she says.
Manchester is a university town, with many Indian students. Sindhu S Kumar, a post-graduate student at University of Manchester, says, “It’s sad and outrageous. Not just because it’s home but it’s such a lovely city with such welcoming people. People literally take the pains to help you in the smallest of things just to make sure you’re okay.”
The mood following the attack, is, “Taxis gave free rides and hotels offered free accommodation and everybody has been helping in any way they can. The streets were pretty empty yesterday, and people were mostly indoors but thousands gathered later for a vigil to stand against violence,” she adds.
Swarna feels that while there is a palatable anger and sadness, the government has since, increased the threat level to critical for first time in 10 years, “If the people and the city of Manchester had a message for the cowardly perpetrators, these lines by the legendary Gloria Gaynor are it: “Do you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die? Oh no, not I, I will.”
— with inputs by the Features Team
