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Once there was Bombay When I first went to Bombay (it wasn't Mumbai then), as a teenager for a holiday, I felt it was a different country. My hometown, was conservative, didn't have coffee shops, restaurants, discos and had only prohibition. Bombay seemed so open, Marathi Manus so friendly, and more than anything else was a fun place. Once, when I was taken to the Taj Hotel at the Gateway, I felt I had died and gone to heaven. There was a disco, the arty crowd and minor film stars mingled easily with hicks like me. It was the very first disco I had ever been to. A few years later, I traveled frequently on official tours to Bombay. As Mumbaikars, I spoke fluent Marathi and Bombay Hindi this helped me to enjoy fully. I remember thinking that this is possible only in Bombay. If you are not very rich, life is not particularly comfortable in Mumbai. You can afford housing only in the suburbs, travel a long distance in crowded local trains and buses. But Mumbai was safe. The horror of what is happened at the Taj and Oberoi is particularly heart breaking for me. My connection with the city stayed alive because of my frequent trips there. The Newspapers, Magazines & TV Channels like Mumbai, was a melting pot. People from all parts of the country worked there. Nobody thought about the divisions. Most of us loved the city, loved our jobs, loved the tension and concentrated on delivering results. The city is so mediasavvy. You didn't have to use influence. It was such a professional city. Nobody bothered about your background, where you came from, or who your parents were. You were what you were. Truly. The first time I felt a change in my visit, after the Babri Masjid Demolution. My Muslim friends suddenly withdrew into themselves. It didn't make any difference to our relationship. But they started thinking more seriously about their religion, their future, and their children's future. Some friends who have never done that before started fasting during Ramzan. Soon after, came the Bombay blasts and then the retaliatory attacks when the Shiv Sena went on a rampage. Suddenly there was the Hindu-Muslim divide. Hindu friends became protective of their Muslim colleagues. Muslim friends became slightly suspicious. As it is repeated ad nauseam, Mumbai is resilient. As though it had a choice. In 2006, there were the serial blasts in the Mumbai suburban trains, the lifeline of the city. It happened on a rainy dark evening when hard working professionals were returning home. The commuters are a community by themselves. As they spend such long hours in the trains, they make friends, save sitting places for others, form singing groups, share snacks, and make life as comfortable as possible. Even after that particular horror, Mumbai did go back to normal, picked itself together, and went back to business. But then politics has started rearing its ugly head ever so often in Mumbai. The Malegaon blasts, the Marathi manoos campaign, all ruining the spirit of Mumbai. How much beating can the city take? The monsters who are behind this attack seem to understand very well that if they break Mumbai, they break India. |
RAGHAVAN --- On Sat, 11/29/08, Swati <venusian.lady@ From: Swati <venusian.lady@ |
A day in the life of the 'Taj' Away from guests and staff, suave welcomes and prompt services, the Taj, was to experience some visitors on November 26, 2008. Visitors who walked calmly through the service door of the Taj, stormed the hotel and opened fire. They also hurled grenades at the people. Major portions of the hotel have been destroyed by fire. Many were evacuated and rescued; although some are still held hostage in the hotel. For the next two days, a dangerous encounter follows between the commandos and terrorists, in trying to free hostages- explosions and gunshots shaking India's financial capital. Trident on fire It was Trident's turn now. At 9:35 pm, on Wednesday, Mumbai's Trident hotel came under attack when terrorists stormed the hotel. A number of people were still trapped inside the hotel. Sources have confirmed two gunmen inside but there could be more. The operation to flush out terrorists is still on. Many innocent lives have been lost in this incident.
Now, at Ville Parle At 9.55 pm, a taxi blast rocked Ville Parle leaving three dead. The taxi's debris are lying around. Wednesday night, was the beginning of a doom, or so it seems. As if, the sun had set on Mumbai, awaiting a forced summon. Holed up at the Cama hospital The terrorists seem to have left no stones unturned. After Ville Parle, they attacked Cama hospital at 10:15 pm and were holed up there till policemen shot them dead and got it cleared. After the Cama hospital encounter, the police sources have confirmed five people are dead including one police Inspector, two Constables and two watchmen. With such unprecedented attacks all over Mumbai, sleep would not come easy. <> At 10:45 on Wednesday night <> Amidst the other shocking attacks in Mumbai, Wadi Bunder, was next in line. There was a blast in a taxi in which 15-16 people were injured in the vicinity. The driver of the taxi is dead.
These are the terrorists, who are behind the terror attacks in Mumbai on Wednesday night. At least 100 people have been killed and about 240 injured in a series of well-coordinated attacks in the city. Men who could have gone a different way perhaps; men, who could have been the reason for giving life to someone- instead, they choose hatred? Why, is the question that comes to mind, everytime one sees the deeds they do. Is there an end to this hatred? It was an attack, the motive behind which is not immediately clear. An attack that targetted luxury hotels, a railway station and many other places, wounding an innumerable number of people and leaving others dead. Grenades and guns were also found from many of the sites. It's been two days since Wednesday, the battle goes on, and the sounds of the gun firing come raw to the ears, still. While a few have been evacuated, hostages still remain trapped, in some of the sites. Amidst crisis of any kind, it is only hope that sustains. Distress is not for long when one has the shoulders to lean on. In experiencing one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in India, which took as hostage not only Indians but foreign nationals- perhaps, the world knows, what it is to be together in distress. In this picture, unidentified guests of The Taj Hotel comfort each other in an ambulance after they were rescued from the hotel in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, November 27, 2008. Terrorism summons death. It's tried and has been tested. And so goes the story when on Wednesday night the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad's chief Hemant Karkare was gunned down when he was leading an operation at Mumbai's Taj Hotel against terrorists on Wednesday. He was hit by three bullets in his chest. A life that perhaps should have never gone- but such are the designs of destiny. Bidding the last adieu
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