Resumo de The 7/11 Talk - Gaurav Satija

THE 7/11 TALK?It had an earsplitting noise. Nothing could be worse than that. The train exploded like a ball of fire.?Mangal was narrating this story to his sister Supriya. His rented home was not much distant from Mahim station. And being on the 10th floor, he could very easily view the 1st & 2nd platforms. On the 11th of July he was right there in the balcony, witnessing the commotion on the station. Supriya had come over to his place in order to take care of their 87 year old mother who was suffering from chronic Tuberculosis.?I had heard about these Mumbai bomb blasts?, continued Mangal. ?But I?d never imagined the impact of it. All the blood and flesh torn apart in a matter of just a few seconds. The amazing part was the people who, despite the appalling sight, were rushing back and forth to lift the cadavers. I was stunned by the devastation that took place. But more by the magnanimity of the people of this city?.Supriya was listening intently. She could feel a shiver run down her spine as her brother unfolded the particulars of the catastrophe.?The detonation was so powerful that it blew up the roof of the platform. Bodies were thrown all across. It was a sight of panic, pain and horror. The platform stalls, the dabba-wallas, the cobblers on the station ? all were ripped apart with no respite.?Within the next 5 minutes there were police personnel all around with a handful of tasks to carry out. Ambulances had to be called to the rescue. The corpses had to be moved onto the stretchers. The explosion had had such a mammoth effect that the police had to ask more civilians to help them with the human remains. ?Moreover, the whole railway network was put to a halt across the city. All celphone lines got cramped due to the panic that had arisen amongst the place. The news channels reported that the celphone lines could have been deliberately jammed in order that the culprits do not contact each other. Most of the flights and outbound trains were cancelled for the next few hours. The havoc had spread quite rapidly due to which all offices were asked to close down.?At the station, though, nothing seemed to come back to order. No one could make sense out of what was going on. All happiness, joys, wonders, riches of numerous people had come to an end in an instant. These words had no meaning at all for these people. The surviving victims would live all throughout their lives bearing the agony of the disaster.?Supriya, by this time, was already in a state of dismay. She was thankful to GOD that none of her close ones were victimized by this terror attack. ?The news was flooded with reports of the injured and dead ones. There was a constable who lost both his hands in the blast. And he was the sole earner in his family of four. A woman and her two daughters, traveling in the first class compartment, died instantly with the explosion. There were a few people on the platform who were burnt alive due to the huge flames rising after the explosion. The hospitals close to the Mahim-Bandra area were all packed with patients.?The suspects were deemed to be from the Al-Qaiza group. The police and the CBI had already started probing into the matter. A few people at the international airport had been detained for questioning and severe security measures were being implemented throughout the city. Even the other leading metros like Delhi and Bangalore went on a high alert.??I did hear about the high alert being declared in all the big cities here?, Supriya broke her silence for the first time since the conversation had begun. ?The defense authorities back there in America also had become quite vigilant after this blast in Mumbai. The Indians there in my University arranged for a prayer the day following the blast. My friend Shreya could not stop crying even days after the attack. Her younger brother lost his life in the explosion. She wanted to be with her parents here in India but felt totally helpless as she could not meet them soon owing to the distance. We all were in a state of shock. For the first time I realized that this remoteness is a huge constraint in expressing my love and concerns towards my loved ones.??Fortunately we all were fine here?, Mangal responded. ?None of our friends or relatives was a prey to this heinous disaster. Mamma was quite relieved to hear that you had planned a trip here. She was scared enough not to see her daughter in front of her eyes.?Their mother had started coughing badly in the room inside. Supriya told her brother to rest for sometime while she would give their mother some medicine. As she went inside the room Mangal delved into his thoughts about the blast controversy. He was wondering what would have happened had he not left Mahim station just prior to the blast. All his dreams would have been shattered. His whole life?s work would have got spoilt. His accomplices would have not let him or his family stay alive had the police got hold of him. His mission as the first non-muslim Al-Qaiza member had gone precisely as he had planned !

Resumos Relacionados