This Thursday marked 4 months since Mumbai's 26/11 terror attacks. Two books present first-hand accounts of hostages, ranging from bizarre to heartrending. We bring you excerpts
This Thursday marked 4 months since Mumbai's 26/11 terror attacks. Two books present first-hand accounts of hostages, ranging from bizarre to heartrending. We bring you excerpts
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An hour has elapsed since Imran and Nasir had entered the building. Ram Bhuwal Yadav, the petrol pump manager had heard the gunshots and the deafening blast. He asked his team to immediately disband and go home. Since he couldn't leave the pump, he locked himself up in the main office. Then as he says, "I drew the blinds, and hid behind the solid steel desk. I just had a feeling that the worst was yet to come. And I wasn't wrong. At around 10.45 pm, roughly half an hour after I took cover there was a massive explosion. Such was the force that I was thrown on to my back. Fearing a fire, I immediately ran out. Several people were running helter-skelter on the main street of Colaba outside Collabawallah House. It was a miracle that no one was hurt."
From the Fight for Nariman House By Rahul Shivshankar
Bhisham Mansukhani dislikesu00a0 attending weddings. He never goes to any of them. "Only at gunpoint," he says. The irony of this flippant admission doesn't escape him now. A journalist by profession, Mansukhani was a wedding guest at the Taj Hotel's Crystal Ballroom. Bhisham mingled fleetingly, then stopped to exchange information with a friend who worked the stock markets. That's when the first shots rang out. It didn't take long for the Taj staff to act: they locked the doors in a flash.u00a0 A few minutes after the shooting stopped, the staff members escorted the frightened bunch from the wedding party in the ballroom on the first floor through service corridors on the eastern side of the hotel. Mineral water was circulated and tins of potato chips were passed around. Tray after tray of Chutney and Cheese Sandwiches and Canapu00e9s, even Pu00e2tu00e9 and Smoked Salmon kept coming, followed by cans of aerated drinks. The hotel staff didn't stop at that: towels and crisp white sheets were brought in to be used as wraps to keep warm. It almost became like one big party.
From 60 Dark Hours at Hotel Taj By Ashish Khetan
Then the two walked towards the Tiffin restaurant. Before they entered Tiffin, they sprayed bullets on the glass walls and doors of the two shops that sold watches, leather accessories and clothes. The time was 9.57 pm. Upon entering Tiffin, a multi-cuisine restaurant, they fired several rounds, giving the victims no chance t o escape. Most of the diners present at the time had perhaps mistaken the sound of gunshots to be that of firecrackers and had stayed put. While some diners were fortunate not to be hit, twelve bodies were recovered from Tiffin later, some bending over their tables, some sprawled on couches, some lying under the tables and others spread on the floor.
From How Hotel Oberoi was Secured By Ashish Khetan
The two men came in a black and yellow taxi, one of the thousands that trawl the Colaba market daily, ferrying shoppers, tourists and office-goers, on one of the liveliest stretches of Mumbai. It was 9.40 pm and Leopold Cafe in Colaba was packed, buzzing with cheerful conversation, music and clinking of beer mugs. "The two guys got off in front of the entrance," says Eric Anthony, manager of the popular hangout. "They hugged each other and then lobbed a grenade into the restaurant." Eric, who was standing at the small entrance, saw the men calmly walk into the restaurant through the haze and pull out their guns. "They fired randomly, without aiming at anyone. They sprayed the entire ground floor," he recalls.
From Eyewitness Accounts from CST, Leopold Cafe, Taj and Oberoi By Harsh Joshi 26/11 has been edited by Harinder Baweja and published by Roli Books. Available at all leading bookstores for Rs 295
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| Also out |
| Piercing the Heart: Unheard Voices of 26/11 by Simran Sodhi is a compilation of first-hand accounts of victims of the terror attacks. In addition to personal accounts, the book tries exploring the politics surrounding the event and its aftermath. Published by Rupa and Co. Available at all leading bookstores for Rs 195 |
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