Reporter’s diary from 26/11 Mumbai attack

10 years ago, it was a war zone around the Gateway of India in Mumbai. Explosions, gunfire, raging flames, armoured vehicles and commandos sliding down from helicopters were enough to overwhelm anyone. All this could be  seen or heard on television but not the most pervading element – the stench of burning Taj Mahal hotel that remained in the air for several days. Even while concentrating on the story or trying to take a small nap inside a hotel room, the mind was constantly reminded of the situation with every breath filled with toxic smell.

As a reporter, the strangeness of the situation could be difficult to explain. We chose to stay close to the place of action in a hotel between the Taj and the Jewish centre, but that also meant that we were always on our guard. There were constant rumours of more terrorists moving around to target other hotels. And as we reported the fact that hostages at Taj and Trident were surviving on their minibar stuff, we ourselves were checking as to how much was there in our hotel rooms.

Several years later during a Mumbai trip, a war correspondent told me that the best way to deal with such a situation is to fight back. “They will definitely find you under the bed or anywhere else in the room,” he said, “Try and snatch the attacker’s gun as soon as you see him.” Well, I must admit that such thoughts never passed by my mind at that time.

At the Gateway of India, hundreds of reporters and security men were fully in range of the gunmen hiding inside the Taj hotel. Still none of us felt a need to be taking an evasive position – if there was any – but luckily no shot was fired towards us.

It also felt weird as other than the intermittent gunshots and explosions, there was a total quietness in the area. That prompted everyone to remain calm and speak very softly. The only exceptions were the colleagues from the TV channels giving live feeds. They had to convey the explosive nature of the situation and it seemed that the only way to do that was to be very loud and sounding breathless.

There were even lighter moments in between as a fellow journalist form major national channel said that now he would not be in front of the camera. Why? “Our howitzer has arrived from Delhi (referring to their star women reporter),” he said, “We are just pellets.”

One of the side stories came from a local resident. A survivor escaping from his Taj room was so used to ultimate luxury that even after long days of captivity and strong likelihood of being shot dead, he was complaining about the condition of Mumbai’s black and yellow taxis in which he was made to travel to the airport.  

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