Page 51 - Love Story of a Commando

cheerful hooting and giggles all around. He stood there transfixed,
embarrassed, cheeks blushing red, highlighted more in his black uniform. I
released him as soon as I realized what was going on around, embarrassed.
‘Hey mate, looks like you are doing more than just saving lives,’ one
of the commandos chuckled.
Virat took a step forward, held me in his arms and kissed me. An
applause went through the crowds but all I could see was his handsome face.
Then he broke the trance and said, ‘Please go! Be safe! I will find
you!’
Human emotions like love, laughter, humility and concern inject
incredible strength in you to go beyond the darkness created by hatred,
atrocity and revenge. Even during the darkest hour of massacre,
hopelessness, narcissism or holocaust, these feelings have sustained
humanity and kept it alive or the world would have buried under the ashes of
hatred long ago.
I moved back to my queue and was taken out of the hotel soon after.
There was a huge crowd of the friends and families of the hotel
guests gathered outside the hotel along with numerous media channels.
There was stiff competition going on among media personnel to report every
single moment of the situation regardless of the safety of the people and
status of the ongoing operation.
It was a race above human sentiments where each one of them
wanted to succeed.
I looked around and saw numerous police vans and army buses
parked outside the barricades placed within the perimeter of the hotel. There
were many policemen and commandos taking cover among the shrubs and
trees surrounding the stone promenade along the seashore. There were some
more policemen simply to hold back the people from going near the hotel
beyond a fixed distance. There were many women and children rescued,
sobbing and crying out of hunger and panic. There were other people who
had made it out of the hotel, but their friends or relatives were still trapped
inside. A few were just onlookers whose curiosity had got the better of them.
I got to know that there were other terrorists attacks happening in
other parts of Mumbai and forces were trying to minimize the damage, save
innocent lives and fight back. The 51 Special Action Group of NSG
commandos that specialized in counter terrorism and hostage rescue
missions had especially flown down from New Delhi.
I shuddered realizing that I had survived two days of bloody chaos
inside the hotel.
I really cannot recall how I got back to the safety of my flat where I
was reunited with my friends. Miraculously all of us were alive. We hugged