London goes on
Last night's events didn't hit too close to home. They did hit home because that's what I have been happily calling London for a few years now. I love this city and the people living here and visiting it. What happened wasn't an attack on a particular group of people. The terrorists went after anyone within their sight whether they were black, white, Christian, Muslim, atheist, old or young. Just like in Manchester, Paris, Nice, Brussels, Baghdad, Kabul, Ankara, Manila... It's not an ideology, it's a deliberate and perverted mass murder seeking only to terrify and divide.
And that's why it will always fall flat in London. This is a city that has endured the Blitz where the city was almost constantly bombed by the Germans and yet the pubs stayed open, children were playing and tea was being made in the streets. Or the seventies where there were hundreds of bombings conducted by the IRA yet life still went on. A bunch of misguided maniacs will not make Londoners cower in the corner or change their way of life. Londoners are not afraid and today was a beautiful example of that. Whoever could help did so in any way possible. People offered shelter to stranded visitors, food to those in need, their blood to hospitals.
I went out today to do some photography around the scene of the attacks. Of course, the entire area was closed off by the police and surrounded by news crews speaking all kinds of languages but I went anyway to get at least some photographs of that. There was an eerie quiet in The City and on Southwark. But when I made my move towards Trafalgar Square there was an obvious proof of London spirit. The scheduled Sikh event commemorating the 1984 Golden Temple massacre was still taking place regardless of the attack. People just refuse to be afraid. And I have to say, Sikhs are one of the warmest and friendliest people I've met.
Here are some of the photos from around the closed off area and the Sikh event in Trafalgar Square.
#WeAreNotAfraid
