Today, I went to Monitor Group. We have received a service
tax work at this place, so my boss had asked me to come there. There was I
sitting and compiling the data for filing the correct service tax and claiming
the correct cenvat. My bosses had left a long while back; the date was 26/11.
I am sitting in the office doing my job, in the lane just behind
Marine Drive, I could see the sea from the large windows of the office and I
thought it would be so great to see this sight everyday and then I suddenly I
came to my senses and I am all alone in the office with only one more employee
and he is waiting for me to leave...so reluctantly I started making my way
towards Church gate station......it was 9 PM, the attack at Oberoi Hotels, Marine
Drive started at 9.30 PM........
I sat in the 9.15PM local and started to make my way towards
home i.e. Kadivali (East).As usual the train was all crammed up. As soon as I
crossed Dadar I started to get calls from my roommates, but it’s very difficult
to hear what the other person is saying, so I disconnected the call.....but the
calls never stopped.....hmmm...
I reached home and everyone was standing in the living room
and watching a single thing on TV.....NEWS....it is a rare sight.......and then
I got a sight of the TV and came to know that CST, The Taj Hotel and the Oberoi
hotels are under attack, it is a terrorist attack. The city of Mumbai is under
attack and I was so close to where the attack had begin.....the phone started
to ring again...relatives started to call from all over the country.....but after
hearing my voice and getting the confirmation that I am at home and safe with
my friends, all were relaxed. Mind you my mom has not called; because she never
watches the news.....she called the next morning.
The next morning the terrorist have taken hostages in both
the hotels. The NSG have started to engage with the terrorist and the live
footage of all this can be seen on TV, so can the terrorist....dumb....
All my roommates had been informed to stay indoors, so I
confirmed from my boss and to everyone’s shock I had to go to office, I was
expecting this....ha ha ha......so I started to make my way towards office.....
My office starts at 11 AM, I usually start at 9.30AM to get
there........usually it is the peak rush hour in any part of Mumbai....everyone
is making their way towards office and it’s a race.....but today it is
different....I reached the station very comfortably and got a place to sit in
the local for the first time at this time of the day....usually I had to leave
one or two locals.......overcrowded and no place to enter...but today was
different.....the whole compartment was almost empty.......it is a slow local
that I take. We stop at every station and the case was same at every
station...EMPTY....only a few commuters.
I got down at Matunga Road and started to make my way
towards office...the roads and were also empty....very minimal traffic...so I
finally reached office.....it’s a boring day and a day of continuous calls and
a lot of lying.....
So, finally I left office at 9.00PM and started to make my
way towards Matunga Road Station, no one around just a vast emptiness as if
walking in a desert....finally I reached the station.....as I recall not more
that 15 people at the station........a rare sight.....I boarded the first local
that came and got a place to sit...for the first time. Only three people
sitting in my compartment.......this is not possible even on a Sunday.....I
reached home and had dinner and to bed.......the attack continued for the next
three days, but finally all terrorist have been killed and one captured alive
“KASAB”.
But the condition remained the same during these three days
in the whole of Mumbai........the city had been brought to its knees, but as
always, it always gets up so it did......
It is the spirit of the people of Mumbai that make it such a
great place.....it is by far the best place to work.......no one can break this
city, but the government has to do a lot of work..........
It was the most horrible week of my stay in
Mumbai...............
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