Taj On Fire
The CST (VT) station just after the shootout- 26 Nov 2008
all pcitures courtesy - PTI, Rediff.com Getty Images - Copyright with owners
MUMBAI BURNT
MUMBAI HURT
MUMBAI ATTACKED
MUMBAI SHATTERED
26 November 2008
At 9.21pm when the first gun-fires were fired at Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus) and by 10.00pm the news channels across the nation had begun training their cameras and reporters at the site when the next news started coming in that the terrorist had struck! The n came the new of terrorists striking the Mumbai masterpiece the Taj Mahal Palace & Hotels and then The Trident & Oberoi Hotel and later the Nariman House.
I had been out with friends for dinner in a suburban restaurant and our phones had started buzzing from across India - family members, friends and colleagues had been in a frenzy asking if we were safe and sound and above it all where we were.
I have never before been in Mumbai to feel the mayhem and terror that the city has experienced since 1993 Bomb Blast to the 2006 Train Blasts or even the 2006 deluge.
It never struck me when people had started calling that this would be a beginning of a night which shall see no morning soon....
Only when we hit the road to our homes that we understood the gravity of the situation when the police barricades welcomed us at every junction and once home the first thing was to switch on the TV news.
I recall that I never moved from the face of the TV for two straight hours, I felt like the terrorists had attacked my home, my people and I was shocked as hell to see how bullet-ridden bodies, blood-soaked, deafening cries and a jerky camera crew captured it all for us viewers.
Disbelief, numb, zonked and disheartened at the way such terrorists had created mayhem I lay in front of the TV and watched how at all the six places where TV crews had taken their positions covering the most daring attack in Mumbai, something which till then had only been seen in Kashmir valley.
Frantically I collected myself to check on my townie friends... Thank God! As most of them had collected at each other's homes or were at their homes watching the cricket match... I know a few friends who have made Trident their second home due to business compulsions and they are there every day in and out of the hotel.
I didn't sleep till next day... I couldn't get sleep at all. I was in shock. But the body did give in to slumber when it was nearing 36 hrs. The next day it was the same routine - TV and Phone.
After having lost faith in the whole counter-strike after the trio of cops Mr. Karkare, Mr. Daate & Mr. Salaskar were shot dead by the terrorists the ray of hope came in with the NSG who "looked" prepared to take on those cowards holed up in the three locations.
Even after a whole day of gunshots and grenade blasts we hadn't conquered back the Taj, Trident or Nariman house.
At 4.30am I went to bed hoping that when I wake up things would have changed and we would be in full control.
Yeah finally after around 60hrs, 400 security personnel and a few hundred relentless media persons we had managed to end the "
But the whole despotic environment, the whizzing mind, the utter helplessness which had overtaken my being was saddening me every minute. How did we as a society, as a city, as the financial hub of
How we sat in front of our TV screens watching endlessly praying hoping that things would end soon but it seemed to go on forever.
How could such a savage act of war be unleashed upon us?
What did Mumbai do to deserve such a wrath?
These questions still haunt me every time I see those images or read the newspapers.
The angst is prevalent across the spectrum.
In the trains.
In the cab.
In the auto-rickshaws.
People are furious.
And as if this wasn't enough our politicians had begun playing their dirty
games for catching media attention.
RRPatil, Deshmukh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and a few others, all had done the unpardonable - irked the people of India with their acts and poorly worded dialogues.
182 KILLED
400 INJURED
That's the toll the police and government wants us to believe.
Might be true. Might not be true.
But one thing is clear that we lost even if we "won."
We had lost our guests, our fellow Indian citizens, innocent people, the brave hotel staff, the daring NSG commandos, the brightest ATS chief and his colleagues and the jawans.
Even if we killed 9 of the ten terrorists who executed this attack and we
sighed in relief for a brief time before the body count began - it was clear that
The magnificent Taj Mahal Palace & Hotel had been shattered inside out, burnt, charred and bombed...
The proud Trident looked like a morgue...
The Oberoi seemed like an inferno...
We had lost...
We had lost a media person too who was shot in the chest at the Metro cinema junction the first night when it all began.
26th November 2008 to 28th November 2008 is going to be remembered with fear...
That's what the terrorists have done...
They have come to our homes and broken in and blasted us dead!
Even if we go out on a war with the LeT in POK or
Just take a look at the African subcontinent...
What it has become...
We don't want to behave like animals...
We should do what is acceptable internationally....
We should do it in our way...
With Honour and Pride !
Not like the terrorists...
But can we kill 182 "TERRORISTS" for the same number of innocents who have been killed here?
How?
And would it be the end of such attacks?
How can we make sure that no one, NO ONE DARES to even THINK in the DREAMS about attacking
That should be our MAIN GOAL...
CLEAN the world of terror...
WIPE it clean!
My heart goes out to all the victims and their families... May their SOULS rest in peace...
If need be I am willing to join the ARMY and I am sure so many others shall also do the same.
Jai Hind!
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