By the time you read this, the siege of Mumbai will have ended, and the long, arduous process of mending will perhaps just have begun. But as I write barely hours after the scouring of the Taj, the wounds — both physical and psychological — are too raw to be soothed by any form of words. Still, one has to begin, sooner or later, to formulate some kind of response to what has happened.

That is easier said than done. Over the past two decades, India has been no stranger to terror attacks, both from within and without. This time though, it is harder to find a narrative among the swirl of speculations, rumours and conspiracy theories. Where did the attackers come from? How did they manage to elude detection during the months of planning leading up to the attack? Where did they get their credit cards and IDs from? How did so many things unaccountably fail to go wrong for them?

In the weeks and months to come, there is a chance we might find answers to some of these questions and have a clearer idea of the opening acts leading up to the violent climax of the past few days. But there are other questions which are not that straightforward, about whether such an attack could have been prevented, or its effects mitigated. After all, such attacks have taken place in the past, and ever since 9/11, the world has talked about little else. Governments, including India’s, have spent huge amounts of money on security systems, armaments, and technologies of surveillance.

But even the most sophisticated toys can only work up to a point. What is needed beyond that is a return to old-fashioned values of collective governance and a rejection of the deeply injurious divide we have nurtured between the political and non-political classes. Ever since independence, the business of politics in our country has been left to the mercy of those unequipped for it in every possible way. We have allowed free range to their venal arithmetic of votes and seats, and have legitimised their self-serving politics at the ballot-boxes. It is convenient for us to excoriate them today, in our newspapers, and blogs and TV channels. But tomorrow we will return to our own ways, and they will do the same.

Over the last 24 hours, many have written how the events of Mumbai are a turning point in many lives. I would like to believe this is so, but much more than words are needed to make such a change possible. And the first step towards doing that is for society to provide succour to those who have suffered most in the last three days. To leave that task to politicians will not be a good beginning.

The author teaches English at Jadavpur University