Terror Attacks in Mumbai: I am okay

My people of blogsville.. I am fine.. Safe and sound. I generally live about 2.5hrs drive from the downtown area of Mumbai where all the attacks happened but I was incidentally having dinner with friends who live not so far from the attack sites. Shey you guys remember I have a new dentist. My dentist is not so far from the sites so I went to visit him on weds and then went on to spend sometime wit my friends who were in the area. Now, there is this Facebook group called Bombay Expats. They usually have an expat night every second weds at a restaurant which is just opposite the Taj Palace Hotel. My friends wanted to go, but because I had to travel back to my apartment and then go to the office the following day, I opted out. My girl Dee also opted out cos she has been having some back ache all week. We decided to settle for dinner and this was where we were having dinner when I got a text alert from my company’s security outfit around 11pm. The msg mentioned that there had been some disturbances in south Mumbai and to stay away from clubs and restaurants. Next thing I know..my older brother is calling me from London.. asking me where I was.. he was telling me that there were shootings and bombings in Mumbai and terrorist activities.. In his 5 mins call, I had received about 3 more text messages from my company and each one more ominous than the last. I was really scared at this time because I had just booked a taxi to take me back home (1 hr journey) I didn’t know where the bullets were coming from and I certainly was scared. One of my friends then came up with the craziest gist of all after she spoke to a co-worker. I kid you not… the gist went thus:

“A nigerian man wielding an AK47 has opened fire on people in the Leopolds restaurant.. so, the Indians in Mumbai are now seeking revenge on all black people in Mumbai” (leopolds was one of the restaurants which was attacked by the terrorists)

I am not joking guys.. hearing this gist.. my life almost flashed before me o.. I was like WTF! Someone give me Hijab I need to cover all of my face in this minute!!!

But then we got to a TV and then we saw the news.. there was no mention of the Nigerian AK47 gunman and to say I was relieved is an understatement. My company closed the offices on Thursday and Friday through to Sunday. Thank God the siege is over. I got so many telephone calls from friends and so many facebook messages from people whom I haven’t even spoken to in a long while. I am really touched.

One of the things I will take with me is how unpredictable this life is and how it could all be over so quickly. The areas of Mumbai which were attacked are places which I usually frequent for Sunday morning bruches whenever I am around. These terrorist could have decided to strike on one fine Sunday morning while me and my friends were munching away on brunch in one of these fine hotels.. I thank God I am safe.. and I also thank God that me and mine are also safe and sound!!

Thanks to you all for your messages…


Love..

Tola