Kurukshetra War - Kali Yuga ping...
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Posted on 12/02/2008 3:31:37 PM PST by GVnana
Heroes At The Taj
Michael Pollack, 12.01.08, 07:40 PM EST
After a terrifying day, one eyewitness thanks his saviors.
My story begins innocuously, with a dinner reservation in a world-class hotel. It ends 12 hours later after the Indian army freed us.
My point is not to sensationalize events. It is to express my gratitude and pay tribute to the staff of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, who sacrificed their lives so that we could survive. They, along with the Indian army, are the true heroes that emerged from this tragedy.
My wife, Anjali, and I were married in the Taj's Crystal Ballroom. Her parents were married there, too, and so were Shiv and Reshma, the couple with whom we had dinner plans. In fact, my wife and Reshma, both Bombay girls, grew up hanging out and partying the night away there and at the Oberoi Hotel, another terrorist target.
The four of us arrived at the Taj around 9:30 p.m. for dinner at the Golden Dragon, one of the better Chinese restaurants in Mumbai. We were a little early, and our table wasn't ready. So we walked next door to the Harbour Bar and had barely begun to enjoy our beers when the host told us our table was ready. We decided to stay and finish our drinks.
Thirty seconds later, we heard what sounded like a heavy tray smashing to the ground. This was followed by 20 or 30 similar sounds and then absolute silence. We crouched behind a table just feet away from what we now knew were gunmen. Terrorists had stormed the lobby and were firing indiscriminately.
We tried to break the glass window in front of us with a chair, but it wouldn't budge.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Proving yet again that the dumbest creatures on earth are politicians! Yeah, great, why not just give the terrorists a map to your current location?
Good God, what these poor people had to endure.
Thankfully, they were not physically harmed, psychologically harmed is another matter.
Wow, what an ordeal. Thanks for posting.
"I can assure you only one thing: Far fewer people would have survived if it weren't for the extreme selflessness shown by the Taj staff, who organized us, catered to us and then, in the end, literally died for us."
The liberal Americans are spouting the usual nonsense about racism and poor non-whites dying for rich white people, and of course missing the whole point.
An Indian, on the other hand, posted the following:
What a bizarre and spine chilling experience.The bond with Anjali and her fortitude gave you the other half of courage you needed to go through this.Adhithi Devo Bhava is what the Staff at Taj believed in. It means a guest is none other than God in person. As an Indian I am very proud and happy to learn the bravery and valor of these men and women who made it possible for you to post the story.May you and family have a great life for long years.
The Scottish Highlanders who are some of my ancestors also have this tradition that the guest is sacred and must be helped and protected -- even if he is a mortal enemy, and even at the cost of ones own life.
Too bad liberals don't believe in anything bigger than their tiny selves.
Remarkable tales of courage and human decency in the face of such barbarism.
______________________
Absolutely!
What sickening servility! Yes, sacrifice yourself someone who is richer or more has a whiter skin than you. Excuse me, while I go out and vomit.
This person has no concept of pride, honor, loyalty or decency. It may be hard to grasp in today's America but I know people who work at the rather less grand hotels we use abroad that are very proud of their jobs, have lifted themselves by their hard work out of extreme poverty and will do as their employer expects of them. When you think about it, there is some similarity between this a a soldier's duty. Yet this person befouls this with racial and class considerations.
Sickening comment. Hindus understand the concept of duty and how devotion to duty can be liberating to the human spirit. Liberals wallow in their “selfhood.”
You have to wonder if that led to the death of those killed at The Chambers.
I guess we can’t count on dfwilliams to put others before him or herself. Sounds like the type to barge their way onto the women and children lifeboat.
I’m sure the staff at the Taj and Oberoi both thought it was their responsibility to take care of their guests. This is a normal professional response and not one that is servile. Most of the staff of these hotels are in fact, educated middle class people..who are of good character and great training.
Having spent many nights in the Taj..it gives me great pain to think that these good people suffered so much.
There is evil in the world and we know who is responsible.
Her’s the member-of-parliament who gave away the location... surprise, he’s Muzzie too!
European parliament member fled Taj, whereabouts unknown
http://inwww.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/27european-parliament-member-fled-taj.htm
November 27, 2008 04:00 IST
Conservative member of the European parliament Sajjad Karim, who was one of two MEPs caught up in the terror attacks in Mumbai, reportedly escaped from the Taj Hotel but his whereabouts are not known.
The other MEP involved in the attacks was Erika Mann, a German Socialist.
Karim and Mann were part of a European parliamentarians’ delegation from the trade committee.
They were staying in the Mumbai hotel for meetings ahead of an European Union/India summit.
Karim, 38, spoke to Sky News of his ordeal and attempts to hide from the assassins in the basement of the hotel until his mobile phone battery ran out.
Mann, 57, was reportedly hiding in the hotel’s kitchens from where she told a concerned colleague who called her: ‘It is too dangerous to talk.’
Speaking to Sky News over phone, Karim said he and others had fled from machine-gun fire and had no idea why the hotel was targeted.
“I was in the lobby when gunmen came in and people started running.
There were about 25 or 30 of us. A gunman stood just there, right next to me, spraying bullets around.
“I managed to run into the hotel kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement. We were in the dark now as we had barricaded all the doors. It was really bad.”
“There was a lot of commotion in the main lobby, and then another gunman came right in front of us and started shooting. I saw a number of people go down, but I was fortunate enough to get away”, Karim told the television channel.
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Kurukshetra War - Kali Yuga ping...
To be added to or removed from this ping list, please FReepmail Sir Francis Dashwood.
The green fields of Heaven are theirs.
I have been reading about the staff at these hotels and they were wonderful. Their courage truly impresses me.
I wish Bush would send a note thanking them for all their heroism in dealing with the foreigners (not only Americans) caught in this horror. They could all have fled into the night, but they didn’t.
bttt
I heard on Fox News earlier this late afternoon, that the wife of the Jewish Rabbi, who was tortured and killed before his eyes, was five months pregnant.
Why can’t we do something about these monsters?
These heroes had no weapons and I can guarantee you their previous exposure to guns was probably zero (India has a very restrictive gun control policy) so it must have been even more terrifying. This was courage of the highest order.
I am also very angry at people who are trying to give it a racist spin, i.e. poor brown skinned people giving their lives for rich/arrogant whities.
Apart from being completely untrue (most guests were Indians), it smacks of condescension.
And yes, I have imagined myself in the position of this heroic staff, and thought about what I would do if I were there.
Most likely screamed like a bi**h and run for my life. :)
Their courage humbles me.
“Don’t worry, you have nothing to fear. The first bullets have to go through me.”
What courageous Indians.
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