' The sight & the smell I'll never forget'.GHAZAL Ghaz´al n. 1. A kind of Oriental lyric, and usually erotic, poetry, written in recurring rhymes. SANDHU Ex- manager, Belvedere Club The Belvedere Club in Charlevoix, Michigan (Northern Michigan) is a wealthy and historic summer home association and golf club. , Oberoi Hotel SHE WASN'T supposed to be on the floor that night. But the young manager of the elitist e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism n. 1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources. Belvedere Club, that caters to a privileged few, was on the Oberoi lobby floor greeting guests. It took her some time to gather her wits when she heard the first round of gunfire that broke out in Trident, the gateway the terrorists chose to break into the hotel. " At first we thought those were firecrackers. Then we thought maybe it was a gangwar when we saw them approaching the floor armed. We though maybe they were here for someone. The thought, dive to safety never occurred to us. Till then they just opened stray fire at anybody and everybody," Ghazal recounts the bewitching be·witch tr.v. be·witched, be·witch·ing, be·witch·es 1. To place under one's power by or as if by magic; cast a spell over. 2. To captivate completely; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. hour, a little after 9 pm, in Oberoi. " They started firing aimlessly aim·less adj. Devoid of direction or purpose. aim  less·ly adv.aim . I missed them by a few inches while taking the stairs up from Kandahar, the restaurant on the ground floor that was gutted. It has to be the most horrifying scene watching the mindless rampage," says Ghazal. Moments later, the young manager was back on the lobby floor huddled with a few guests and staffers and were making their way towards the front door. " The basic instinct of survival kicked in and we made a rush for the door. We were about 10 of us and we ran out of the entrance before the stray bullets caught us. We had to escape," Sandhu reels through the adrenaline rush that had taken over and made her push the few guests she could manage out the door. " Within a few seconds they started firing at everything they could see once they came closer to the door. We barely managed to evade them," says Sandhu. She herded the group across the road towards a Banyan tree that provided them cover. " We all ducked for some reason and we saw this police gypsy whiz past with more hooded men inside. Luckily they didn't spot us. Later we realised it was the same gypsy that was intercepted at Chowpatty," says Sandhu. " We remained huddled there until the police force arrived and assured us it was safe to come out and we made our way back to our homes." Ghazal went back to her company apartment that night not realising the enormity of what she had seen, she was just relieved that she managed to dodge the bullets and take her guests out to safety. But she knew it wasn't over yet. " I tried calling up my colleagues who were trapped inside but couldn't get through to anybody. The phone networks had been jammed and the terrorists had seized the phones of the hostages they had taken. It was strange going back home that night, not knowing what would happen the next day. I had gone to work that day and the next day we didn't know what to do," recounts Ghazal, who stood outside the hotel with her colleagues, waiting for instructions. " We did what we could in terms of sending in supplies to the rescued guests, helping out the commandos with directions and just waiting with the relatives of the people stuck inside. After two days, we went back in to take stock of what all had happened. The weeks following the carnage were the worst few weeks of my life," Ghazal says talking about the clean- up process -- the most heartbreaking experience of all. " The sight and the smell is something I can never forget," says Ghazal. " We went looking for people who could be alive. Some of the guests had locked themselves up in their rooms. They had fortified fortified (fôrt  ´fīd),adj containing additives more potent than the principal ingredient. the doors with furniture and we had to flash our IDs to assure them we were the hotel staff and they can come out with us," she recounts. " We lost many colleagues. Some of them had been working here all their lives." Sandhu left The Oberoi in June this year and moved out of Mumbai after getting married last month. " I will go back soon to visit. The spirit of the people at Oberoi is simply uncrushable. Though I won't be in Mumbai, but I will be part of the prayer service," adds Ghazal and murmurs a little prayer for the victims and survivors of the deadly siege. sharin. bhatti@ mailtoday. in Copyright 2009 India Today This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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