Mumbai under attack as experienced by a partner

Mumbai : As I write my thoughts we have been holed up in our own house for the past 40 hours. The saga began on Nov 26 at about 9:25pm. Wonder if there is this is just another
"26/11" story. I had just returned from my office and was about to settle down to my evening schedule when I heard the first gun shots. My first thought was that these were definitely not crackers. More gun shots followed. Everyone in my neighborhood was disturbed and it seemed like we were definitely going to witness some ugly scenes. I was a little worried and called up a dear friend who knew people in the police force.It was he who enquired and told me there were shooting instances reported from multiple places. What seemed like a one night ordeal back then still continues. We were trying to figure out the place from where the shots were being fired. From my bedroom balcony we saw about 30 to 40 boys from the chawls near our building trying to storm inside the neighboring building where the terrorists were hiding. In retaliation there were gun shots. These brave guys still decided to try entering the premises once more. This time around the terrorists hurled a grenade. The building shook like it was hit by an earthquake. The sound was deafening and the window panes of many surrounding buildings were shattered. And with that even our spirits were shattered. I could see the tense look on my
wife's face which she was trying to hide bravely. My 12 yr old son Karan started crying. I
didn't know how to react. I called up my friend again. He advised us not to go near the windows and to squat on the floor. As a quick reaction we switched off all electronic devices and sat on the floor motionless. My wife called up her parents who stay on the floor above us and told them to do the same thing. Anxiety and fear of the unknown had gripped us and we were using all our wits to stay calm.



News of a dear police officer falling prey to the terrorists bullets came in and we were terror and grief struck. SMSes and phone calls poured in from friends and family from all over the world, consoling me. They could understand the anxiety even if they could not experience the tension. One friend, Harish Tyagi said,
"Don't worry, you have too many spiritual protectors around you, also known as
friends." By now realization had dawned on me that it was not an ordinary gang war (like the one you saw in the movie Shootout At Lokhandwala) but more serious terrorist stuff.The army moved in at about 3pm. A lot of enthusiastic local boys were guiding the police on the terrain. The terrorists were holed up in Nariman House. My neighbouring building Prem Bhavan is currently acting as a shield between our building and Nariman House. The troopers from the military evacuated Prem Bhavan because they wanted to use it as their base. I slept around 3pm hoping the entire incident would be over by the time we awoke. But then in life you
don't rise to a beautiful day everyday. Our whole compound was swarming with Marcos (Marine Commanders). Later I came to know they are specialized forces from the Navy who are trained for urban terrorism.We were in South Mumbai surrounded from all sides by the Naval base, Mantralaya and the State Police Head quarters. But here we were caught in a situation which seems to be far from over. I guess this thought scared us more. The day began with hope seeing all the Marcos. I told my son that the terrorists
wouldn't have enough arms to last for another few hours. But I was wrong. The firing continued and so did our saga. Life teaches you very quickly. I was beginning to notice my family members had begun to adapt to the situation. We were ok with the sound of the gunshots in the background. My son quickly returned on his PS2, playing virtual war games and we were glued to the TV. As the evening dawned we were getting jittery. The Marcos had put up search lights in our compound and asked all of us to keep our lights off. I put my family to sleep and was waiting in the hall for the final action to begin.



Curfew had been declared. The roads were desolate. You could actually hear your heartbeat. Not a soul on the road, not a flutter of the bird. Seemed like an empty street from a scary movie. I began to SMS my friends to keep my spirits high. All of us were pretending to be humourous to hide our fears.There was no firing the whole night. We woke to the sound of helicopters just about 200m from our face. The chopper started hovering over Nariman House against the backdrop of continous gunshots. The NSG had arrived in style. The next two hours was full of action right out of a Hollywood action flick. Never imagined to be in such a scenario, and believe me it is not a good one to be in. The action stopped just before lunch time and as we began to have our lunch we could hear a lot of firing and grenade noises around Taj. We believe Taj has been fumigated of these pests and we are anxiously waiting they will do the same at Nariman House. Besides our spirits our food supplies have hit rock bottom, as we have been giving these away to neighbours, watchmen and security guards.We had always read about the armed
forces'; their resilience, their valour but today we were witness to the same from such close quarters, taking on the terrorists without batting an eyelid.



Our heartfelt thanks to all the armed forces.I end my article amidst heavy exchange of gunshots and grenades in the background, and a story half told. Never in my life have I ever waited for someone to get killed so eagerly. For the first time I believe the thought is justifiable.