Newlyweds recall night of terror

Newlyweds recall night of terror
Swati Deshpande TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: It was a shower of bullets and not rose petals that greeted them on the day of their wedding reception at the Taj Mahal hotel. The date was 26/11. A year later, the sights and sounds of terror still linger in Amit and Varsha Thadani’s memory.
For the young Mumbai couple, seven terrifying hours spent crouched on the second floor of the hotel and their dramatic, almost miraculous escape less than 24 hours after their wedding are moments that “can never be erased’’. But Amit, a garments businessman, feels no anger, only pain and frustration. “It is frustrating to see that the government has not done much in the last one year to prepare the city for a similar eventuality. Fear is still etched in people’s mind,’’ said the 32-year-old Breach Candy resident.
Recalling their night of terror, he said, “Sindhi celebrations usually start late.Only a few guests had arrived when the terrorists struck. We had got married the previous day at a temple and I and my wife checked in to the Taj at 5 pm.The security frisked us at length,put my bag under the scanner and even my
wife’s small handbag. The sniffer dogs were also called in. Later I was aghast to see the CCTV footage. A terrorist with his backpack walked in nonchalantly.No one so much as looked at him. He went to another room and assembled his automatic weapon just as calmly.’’ ‘We ducked bullets & hid in bathroom’
Mumbai: What was to be an occasion of joy and gaiety turned out to be a terror-filled night for the newly-wed Thadanis. Amit’s memories of his wedding reception are tinged with frustration at the government’s inability to reassure Mumbaikars. “If the government can’t even make people feel secure, let the military run the country,’’ he said.
“I now want to contribute in some meaningful way through some NGOs. My wife wants to join the Teach India campaign,’’ said the 32-yearold Breach Candy resident, speaking for the first time at length to an Indian newspaper, just a day before his first wedding anniversary.
Recalling that fateful night, he said, “We were in our room on the second floor in the old wing. The reception was to take place in the Crystal Room. We were getting ready when we heard gunshots close by. The terrorists were shooting at a woman in the room next to ours. She was screaming. We could hear her being dragged along the floor. The AK-47 bullets and their shards came in through the common wall. I just walked out of the toilet and missed some bullets as I ducked. I pulled my wife into the bathroom. And we lay there on the floor for very long. The gunmen were shouting. My wife, also a Sindhi, had lived in the UAE and told the ATS later that it was a language she had heard before.’’
The Thadanis drew courage from each other. “The incident shook my faith in the government, but it makes me value life more. It brought me and my wife even closer. She is a strong girl.’’
But how did they escape unhurt? “We heard some commotion outside our room. There were two loud explosions which shattered our room window. I began shouting for the firemen below to help us. But no one heard me. Then I put Varsha out on the ledge and began waving again. A firemen saw us and put up a ladder. It was 4.15 am when we got down.’’
What was shocking, though was the scene outside the Taj. “It was seven hours since the terrorist had taken over the hotel. Outside, the scene was like a tourist carnival. The media was swarming around and interviewing the firemen. I was shocked.’’
Not a day goes by when 26/11 doesn’t feature in a conversation between Amit and his wife. “We don’t have a baby yet. But life is as normal as it gets. We even went back to the Taj a few times. It gives me the creeps though to eat there now,’’ said Amit who also runs the Crepe station stalls in various city malls. Asked what would they be doing on the anniversary of their wedding reception and the terror attack, he said, “Life can’t stop. And we can’t live in fear. We will be going to Lonavla.’’



The incident
shook my faith in the government, but it makes me value life more. It brought me and my wife even closer
—Amit Thadani