Ahead of the young 26/11 survivor unveiling a memorial at Chabad House, journalists eat into the narrow lane of the building, even as amused spectators and shopkeepers watch in awe
Moshe Holtzberg arrives at Chabad House on Tuesday afternoon
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If you happened to pass by Jewish outreach centre Nariman/Chabad House on Tuesday afternoon, you must have seen the narrow lane teeming with reporters and photojournalists, while the main road bordering it slimmed down to half its size due to numerous satellite vans.
Media mayhem
Eleven-year-old Moshe Holtzberg, whose parents Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were killed in the 26/11 terror attacks, arrived in Mumbai last morning with his grandparents and Indian-origin nanny Sandra Samuels.
One of the walls of the building riddled with bullet holes. Pics/Bipin Kokate
On Thursday, the young survivor along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be unveiling the Living Memorial (dedicated to victims of the terror attacks) at Nariman House. “Mumbai is much safer now than it used to be,” said Moshe’s grandfather on arrival.
Rabbi Israel Kozolovasky, who now heads Nariman House, said Moshe was here to see the future of the place. According to sources, the 11-year-old visited the fourth and fifth floors where the memorial is supposedly being built.
Choc-a-bloc
Seeing the scores of cameramen and reporters outside Nariman House was a surprise for residents of the tiny lane, most of them shopkeepers living in small houses connected to their shops. When Moshe arrived around 2.15 pm, the shopkeepers’ children too joined the crowd, getting on their toes to have a closer look at what was going on.
When they inquired, a member of the press pointed at the wall opposite Nariman House that reads ‘We condemn the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai’, explaining to them who Moshe was. While some of the children seemed to remember the story, others shrugged, clueless.
Even the several paanwaalaas on either end of the lane did not have a clear idea on what was going on. According to the policemen present at the spot for security, there was no hindrance or disturbance during the whole thing, and it all ended calmly. Bamboos and curtains were put up in the lane for Thursday’s function.
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