Live Blog: Bombay Under Siege VI

5.15 p.m.

"Media Karmi" I learn this new word from NDTV. Or, is it Media Karmchari? The meaning? Media worker. So, why not "Madhyam Karmachari" or is it too thick for the thick tongued anchors of the networks. But they seem glib enough. Why am I so irritable today, eh? Thick black smoke billows from a fourth floor room in Hotel Taj, and there is fire inside the room. Red tongues of fire leap from the window. There was a big explosion inside the hotel, may be, a grenade going off. And "boom" the light goes off in my flat. 

I can blog so long as the battery in my laptop lasts, but that is not long enough. So I will take a break and go for a walk at the nature park nearby. I need to unwind after the tension of watching all that television and typing at breakneck speed. Don't I? 

See you again soon, hope the power, by which I mean electricity, returns by then.

Live Blog: Bombay Under Siege V

4.30 p.m.

Nearly 18 hours they say. The ship that brought the attackers has been caught and the Navy is questioning the occupants. At the posh Oberoi there have been reports of around five blasts from grenades. At the Taj security forces are trying to scale the hotel by ropes suspended from its first floor. There is no breakthrough so far. 

One big irritant in between these broadcasts are the advertisements which don't have any relationship with the gravity of the situation. Kotex sanitary napkins, Lakme Pure Defense, Axe Deodorant, Congress campaign in Delhi, anything goes. And not once, many times. What is going on? It's like the occasion is being exploited to sell products. Makes one feel insulted. As time goes on I feel that there is less reporting and more such advertisement breaks. So the media is taking full advantage of the situation of fear. The worst offenders are Star News and Aaaj Tak who kept interrupting the telecast to broadcast these repeated advertisements. NDTV didn't have so many breaks. Thanks NDTV.

Latest news is that the security agencies are evacuating all the rooms they have access to and a big explosion has been reported in Taj Hotel. The pictures show a man in one of the windows wanting to communicate with the security forces. The fire in the Taj Hotel is under control.

The Prime Minister comes on television and expresses his deep shock at the events and offers his condolences to the bereaved especially the police officers who died in the effort to control the situation. He says "it is a threat to the nation's security," and will take "strongest measures to ensure safety and security of citizens." He says that he will set up a federal agency to control terrorism. 

Meanwhile there is news that the terrorists came from Karachi by sea. A deliberate attempt is being made to strike high profile meeting and living spaces. Leopold was the "adda" of the expatriate population and the Taj is known to host Presidents Prime Ministers and star sportsmen. That people can enter these places with grenades and RDX is surprising. I was told that there are sensors in VT station that can detect RDX in the premises. Where were they? Were they at all being monitored. 

Question, and more questions! Where are the answers?

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege IV

1.30

Troops have entered the Oberoi hotel and are combing each room in the hotel carefully. An explosion was reported in Oberoi hotel. A man being interviewed outside the hotel has a sister in there and he is clearly emotional. The terrorists have grenade and explosives. So no one can predict what will happen exactly. 

Schools and colleges have declared a holiday. Even my employer has kindly given me a day off. The attacks started with Leopold at 9.30 and ended with the taking of hostages in Taj and Oberoi. Commissioner A. N. Roy has said that there is no attempts at negotiations and therefore it is only action which we can expect from now. 

Interesting aspect of the terrorists' entry into Bombay. As already reported they came from Machimar Nagar in Colaba and were traveling in an inflatable. Some of them went towards Taj and some towards Oberoi which lie on either sides of Machimar Nagar. A man who had seen them and accosted them at 9.30 was told they were students. By some fluke of coincidence this man happens to be a supervisor in Taj Hotel, the very hotel which is under siege. He reported the incident to the local police who didn't take any action. What if the suspicious police had followed in the direction in which the youths had gone? They could have been apprehended. 

A merchant vessel MV (Merchant Vessel) Alpha is supposed to have dropped the attackers near Bombay. The Indian Navy and Coast Guard are pursuing the vessel in international waters. Just a few minutes ago the camera showed some foreign nationals being evacuated from the Taj and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel arrayed in position in front of the hotel. Don't know when the action will start. 

Meanwhile no breakthroughs are reported from either Oberoi at Nariman Point or Nariman Bhavan in Colaba. 

Live Blog: Bombay under Siege III

12.30

On Times Now there's a reporter saying that the National Security Guard (NSG) and the police are all present in force and that they aren't even talking to each other. Is there someone co-ordinating the efforts. The reporter says the authorities are tight-lipped about the whole thing. He is right the state home minister RR Patil himself doesn't know what are the exact figures. Is there any intelligence mechanism in place? Is there any hope for the innocents holed up in the hotels and the residence of an Israeli family.

They show the boat in which the attackers arrived at Machimar Nagar which is near the posh Cuffe Parade area. The boat is a puny looking inflatable and is now with the police. Some fishermen cautioned the police, then why didn't the police take action? Taj and Oberoi are prompt in spotting people who don't mix well with their client profile. Their detectives swoop on stragglers who come with the intention of killing time. How can they miss a posse of about five attackers who must have looked bedgraggled from their journey from Gujarat border in the inflatable? Why didn't they take action. I guess people tend to slack off after an attack of the sort that happened in 1993 and 2006. 

There are crowds of journalists, media persons, cameras everywhere but not many who you see during the weekdays just lazing off at the Marine Drive where Oberoi is situated. The reporter are cool. It must be difficult to keep their cool in such a situation. No, I stand corrected, there are the usual bystanders who keep staring at the camera. They smile at their momentary fame. 

Nobody knows where the hostages are inside the Oberoi, which floor, and in which rooms. Latest news is that 6 foreigners were killed and 16 policemen were killed. There is an Isreaeli family being held hostage in Nariman House in a nondescript part of Colaba. People are being evacuated from this rundown building in not a very tony area of Colaba. There are news of attacks in Neapean Sea Road and Vile Parle. Don't know how they co-ordinate their attacks, but they do. Talk is of negotiations to save lives. One Briton, one Australian and one Japanese are confirmed killed. The total numbers killed is 101 and not 200 as I had reported earlier. Sorry!

Live Blog: Bombay Under Siege II

11.30 a.m.

St. George hospital is where the people shot at VT have been brought. Eighteen people have died when the terrorists opened fire indiscriminately in the crowded terminus, which is teeming at all times of the day. It's heart wrenching to see the people gathered outside, waiting to see if their relations are safe. A youth cries, his younger brother was a worker in Leopold Cafe. His brother, the one sobbing uncontrollably was working in nearby Delhi Durbar restaurant couldn't see him before he went home at 9.30 p.m. The next he heard is that his brother is dead. 

Sun glasses and shoes lying in the blood outside Leopold Cafe, which is sort of hep place where youngsters congregate. Today Leopold is closed, usually it is open around the week. Why did they choose Leopold and not any other restaurant around the area. Someone, a taxi driver, says that the hotel is famous, and a tourist attraction. Which may be why it has been targeted. The area is deserted. 

England cricket team has decided to return home without playing the rest of the matches in the series. Several countries have given warnings to their citizens traveling to India. I understand their concern. 

A top service official says there are 40 hostages each in Taj and Oberoi hotels - two of the most prestigious hotels in the city. The attackers are not more than 4 and came by boat at the Gateway of India. They have been identified as Pakistani citizens. The world sympathises with India but, ironically, warns its citizens against traveling to India. Well, they have their reasons. 

Smita R sent an SMS message from Delhi. I said I was at VT an hour before the shooting started. She seemed surprised, shocked. Nobody realises how important this attack is for India or for the world. Yesterday I saw "The Siege" starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis on Star Movies. The movie was similar in theme - terrorists attacking a city. The military is called in and they go about it like a bull in a china shop. Hub or Denzel steps in to control the situation and all is well again. 

On terrorist has been caught and is being interrogated by the police. Nothing will come out soon about the details of the attack soon. Anil S. calls in and says they should switch off the electricity, which I am against. What will it achieve if they don't even get air-conditioning in the hotel where the people are being kept hostage. Oh, when will this all end. 

Live Blog: Mumbai Under Siege I

9.55 a.m.

I am blogging this as the television keeps playing news about what is being called India's 9/11, as the television behind me plays repeated images about what happened as I was fast asleep last night. I had passed through VT station barely one hour before terrorists entered and fired indiscriminately at the passengers. Shows no one is immune to terrorism these days. Terrorism has become real, very real.  

The heritage structure of the Taj Mahal Hotel where I escape to once in a while (I have tea at my favorite Sea Lounge and browse at the Nalanda Book Shop), to this oasis of peace; Oberoi which I like for its sweeping and awe-inspiring views of the sea and the Malabar Hills, and the Marine Drive, all are familiar destinations, everyday places that are in the centre of world attention today. They attacked Hotel Leopold another favorite spot for me and countless others, and hotel Gokul where I enjoy my seafood (where four grenades were found). Maya S. just chatted with me online. She lives close to the Oberoi Hotel and she said she could hear sounds of gunfire. I tell her not to go out and to be safe. 

I find words failing me. According to Reuteurs around 200 people are dead. People, like me, who have no share in the politics of the situation. The honourable minister said the perpetrators are people frustrated in their missions. That the government is taking this on a war footing. There are hostages trapped inside Taj and Oberoi and efforts are being made to take them to safety using ladders. The military and police are out in force. I can see them in their khaki uniforms.

They are planning something. They say it's an enocunter. The anti-terrorism chief Hemant Karkare and another inspector (Vijay Salaskar) known for his fearless encounter with criminals are dead. Latest is that the terrorists put a gun to a Singaporean citizen in the Oberoi hotel and told her to speak to her consular personnel and warn that if the army stormed the hotel, she would be shot. I can see military commandos in position waiting to storm the hotel. News comes that the terrorists came on boats and all of them are from Pakistan.

Don't know how it will end. Keep reading for more....

Gitouttahere, Nikalja Pathli Galli Se....

Seven out of Ten Young People Voted for Obama

Fond as we are of rants and rantings (what with us doing the ranting, well, mostly) we found the following rant rather amusing one, coming from the conservative Republican Alex Rosenwald. He writes thusly:

"Just how broad and pervasive mass media propaganda favoring the Left actually is has not been adequately aired. And it’s not just the news media; it is every medium extant, from the “Idiot Box” to the silver screen to the CD and I-Pod, and even the burgeoning Internet. In short, there is an outlet for every audience for this propaganda—and the left is in control of virtually every venue. Comedy Central puts out their crew of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. MTV. Music. Movies. Television. Even more so than the news media, pop culture reaches the masses. The people can just ignore the news, but pop culture is everywhere. For the younger generation, who grew up with nothing but pop culture, there is, in fact, no other worldview.

"Conservatives clearly have their backs against the ropes. And if they expect to survive in some politically viable form in the coming decades, they’d better step up and start swinging. In the euphoric electoral victories of 2002 and 2004, many Republicans pretended that the nation had been politically realigned—and that conservatives would be in control of government for a generation. This clearly has not come to pass.

"And here is why: 7 out of 10 young people voted for Barack Obama, and that trend only needs to persist for a generation or two before the left has one party control over all facets of government."

Big deal, huh? That 7 out 10 young people voted for Obama means the next generation will have one party control over government. As the Beverley Hill Cop character Axel Foley is fond of saying, "Gitouttahere," and Anthonybhai would say in Hindi, "Chal, nikalja pathli galli se, nahi tho...."

Puffy Eyes, an Errant Automatic Teller Thingammajig!

These things, these damn things upset me. Have I been cribbing too much? Indulge me. Please.

Ronnie’s down with an eye infection and the poor guy can’t see from one eye. And what’s more, his exams are next month. So I took him, one-eyed and all, to the hospital in Vashi, which has been done up in marble and glass into something of a modernistic office complex, which is not what it’s meant to be, I guess. Leave it. I know poor chap is suffering the way his left eye is swollen up and watering all the time. His eye has been reduced to a gash and I have to prise it open with both hands to have a look to see how bad it is.

So I took the day off to take him to the only good hospital I know in New Bombay. But before that I went to the ATM to withdraw some cash. I didn’t have sufficient cash and God knows what they would require me to do at the hospital. Suppose they tell me the eye has to be operated immediately or he would lose his vision. Heaven forbid that. What happened there is bizarre, I tell you. To my dismay I tried several times and after a lot of whirring, clicking, ticking, tocking, and all that, still it wouldn’t moan (You see, it makes a kind of moaning noise before it gives you cash, guess it is very sad about giving out cash to its rightful owners, such as me!) a bit and spit my money out at me. I was growing impatient by the second. I wondered what to do as it was an emergency and the poor guy would miss his exams if his eye went bad.

So, dithering, I go from one HDFC bank ATM to another and still no success. Irony is this bank has my paycheque in full for the past few months. Ultimately I decide to go it with whatever cash I have. And the visit to the hospital proved smooth, and the doctor reassuring, “only an insect bite” she assured me, “will go away in two days.” She prescribed some medicine and I get back home and I am sitting here. And when I open my email box what I saw made me freeze. It said “your account has been debited for Rs 10,000 today.” That gave me a nasty shock and when I frantically phoned the bank I was told, it was credited back to my account as the transaction wasn’t carried out.

That's when I lost it completely. “Then,” I screamed, “why didn’t it show that it was credited back?”

Drink in Moderation, hic, Don’t Drink at All!

A few things upset us today. It isn’t easy looking at a mother mourning the death of her child. It tugs at the heart. That’s exactly what we saw this morning returning from church. First, the bitch was standing on the road, licking the blood of the puppy, flat on the ground, apparently dead. Its situation was desperate, and we wondered if animals have thoughts, feelings, sadness, grief, like all of us have so abundantly. She was licking the blood that had splattered on the road after some careless driver had run over her puppy, her beloved child. She looked sad. Apparently she knew it was the blood that had to flow back into the baby if it was to be alive again. And she was all grief in the way she stood, bent over, not able to believe her child was dead. Oh God! Why can’t they drive a bit carefully, the road was wide enough, clean enough, a five star hotel stood across it, and the New Bombay police commissionerate was on the other side, its parade grounds resounding with the shouts of new recruits. What made these people in vehicles so desperate? They must have been drunk to do something so reckless.

A cousin brother of a dear relative is in the last stages. They see no hope. He is on ventilator and will die if they pull the plug. He is an excessive drinker, married off his daughters, had a decent enough life with his working wife, two incomes, smart children, all comforts of living, life wasn’t bad. When I would visit him, he would say only a few words, being silent for the most part, his face flushed with the intoxicants he had consumed. What makes men take to drinks with a vengeance? Well, ahem, obviously when they first drink it’s teenage rebellion, then youthful angst, and sooner than later, it becomes a habit and an obsession. We enjoy a drink once in a while and have liked the slow numbing effect as it takes hold of the brain and the faculties. But, excessive drinking? No, we threw up once and that was enough. Finito! An intoxicant is to be had slowly, relished rather than gulped, and when it makes ones head reel, one has to stop right there, or, one will have in excess and the devil will overcome. We know the liquor guys like Vijay M won't like this, but what can we say given the way he flaunts his ill-gotten wealth, all made from destroying someone's family and life.

We went around to our friends for quotes for this piece. Here’s what Anthonybhai (a drinker himself) recommends: drink in moderation, men, or don’t drink at all. It destroys lives and families, tell you men, solid men, it destroyed lives of a few friends of mine.

So It's Official; Indian Actors Don't Act; They Only Show Muscle!

So it’s official. I just heard it from the idiot box and therefore it must be official. So my mind unwillingly comes to the conclusion of a fact that has been worrying me for a long, long time. Ah, now I know it is official and can relax. I should have closed the television and done some writing instead. Such was my huge disappointment.

The interview happened a few minutes ago on Star Television. And the worthies being interviewed were Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. And the interviewer, a bearded chap asked them the following questions:

“Salman, as an actor, whose body is the best? Shahrukh’s, yours, Hritik’s?”

Can you believe he asked this stupid question? Can you spot the anomaly, the execrable truth hidden behind these word? “As an actor,” the worthy star is not being asked whose acting is best. He is being asked whose body is best.

Ahem!

And then there followed a long harangue from the actor about Hritik Roshan’s body and Salman Khan’s body. And then this question followed:

“Katrina, as an actor, whose body is the best? Shahrukh’s, Salman’s, Hritik’s?”

Ouch!

Can you believe he asked this question? Yes he did. Again an actor is not being asked “as an actor” whose acting is best but, whose body is best. I am now grinning with satisfaction at having got something to hack about on my blog tonight, something so incredulous I am grinning as I write this. I can’t control my face from twitching, my hands from trembling.

After all, it’s official. Indian actors can’t act, and don’t care about acting. They are only bothered about who spends time in the gym toning their bodies and who don’t.

And therefore it is official. Who says? I say so, Star TV says so. Indian actors aren’t on screen to show their acting skills, but the size of their pectoral and their bulging biceps.