The time was around 4:30 am in the morning. I was in a rather unconscious slumber upto a point that I did not know what was happening around. Suddenly I could feel a kind of cool breeze blowing around. I was certainly in a 100% oxygen environment, I should wonder. But wasn’t to be. Just my Kenstar Little cooler- dx, which is a cool compact Air cooler, which my brother had bought just months a ago for himself.
Before I went to sleep that day, I checked my clock it was 10 pm. My brother had not come home from his usually tiring job. Software professionals, tend to work so much that they start to like their job and the codes they develop. They become workaholic by their own will. He was late again. As usual, I left my mobile phone for charging and dozed off.
I usually set the air cooler facing me before going to bed. And as it happens often, my brother takes the bed, he moves it towards him and gives me a cool air deprived environment to sleep with my darling blood sucking mosquitoes to mumble about. But surprisingly, this air cooler was still towards me at 4:30 am. I thought my brother must be very generous leaving the air cooler for me today. Then in a jiffy, thought otherwise. A cold spine chilling feeling gripped me.
I got up from my ever solace bed and ran a quick check with one eye still refraining to open. I did not see him on his bed. It suddenly stroked me that he had not arrived. Double checked my watch, it was already dawn. A strange feeling was also beginning to dawn with this dawn. May be he was in the master bedroom with a temporary truckle. The master bedroom was air conditioned. I checked there as well, this time with both my eyes wide awake. It was clear, he was not home.
I went to my mobile, unlocked it. The light coming from my mobile made me blind for a second, as there was no light around. There was a missed call and a message under my brothers name. I read the message which said “I will not be coming home today, because of the bomb blast. Security not allowing me”. I did not waste much time. Called him up and his mobile started ringing. Someone picked up, but it was not my brother. He said, we are still in office could not go out as the security personnel, were not allowing them because of the blasts and added that my brother is sleeping.
I switched the TV on. It was beaming images of people running like hell. The phrase as it appeared in the next day newspaper, aptly suites the situation “Bloody Hell!!”. Mumbai had yet again made an unprecedented, catastrophic date with terror. Panic struck, I woke my daddy up, carefully not to wake my mom. I asked him to come to the drawing room and wanted him to take a look.
To my relief, my brother had already called him and sent the message that he was okay had asked us not to worry. My dad, had switched the TV on and seen all the news when I was asleep. I was once told by my grandmother that, my sleep is very deep. But this was indeed very deep. Till by brother returned home in the morning, it was rather disturbing I should say.
Mumbai is a nice place, commercial and financial capital. People dwell here and make money. It is not often that everyone meets crisis, even though there are blasts every now and then. As long as you not in the firing line, life just moves on. Mumbai spirit will eventually come out. Here we don’t care who the hell bombs us. We move on, we just move on. Come what may, I went to office the very next day. Most off them were home, waiting for things to settle down.
Finally, I salute the police inspectors how have given their life and also not to forget the hotel staff of Taj, who are the real heroes who have saved the lives of the foreigners and guests of the hotel. I had recently been to Hotel Leela at kovalam. I vividly remember the faces of the hotel staff who welcomed us and made our stay heaven. They say Taj is one step better than The Leela. What better than to have staffs who give lives for their guests?
