On Family Duty

Weekends – my only time to have some me time but then that’s also the time when my family me drive them around – not just around – half way across the town all the way from Charni Road to Kandivili coz that;s where scores of my mamas, maasis, aunties, uncles grannies etc live – and this weekend was just one of them…I had a quality Sunday planned with a friend but instead at the last minute when my folks were leaving, I decided to drive them down myself – and save them from the harsh scorching April sun of Bombay…And there I was…catching up with all my cousins, uncles aunties…but of all the things that bothered me the most was running into my grandad’s old sister – i was meeting her after almost a year now and the address had changed. From a sprawling two bedroom hall kitchen flat to a one room kitchen in Kandivili west…yes she had been thrown out of her own house by her own kin — her only fault – she trusted them with her property and other material things. She let them in – they showed her out and now she lives in a dingy little rented flat with a maid who looks just as deprived — once living a life of supreme luxury and panache she has been now reduced to biting lonliness and acute betrayal. She is asking me if someone can help her get home back and I have no answer – I can try but I don’t know if I will succeed because her son’s name is in the part of the deed – who is now dead but it’s his evil son and wife who have taken on the mantle of cheating the poor old woman out of her own home and belongings. She has filed a court case against them but as usual the slow and unreliable judiciary of our country will either not get her justice or give the verdict long after she is dead.

GARBA GROUPISM!

It’s that time of the year again when Mumbai comes alive to the beats of Navratri. Time for city’s young and restless & some not so young yet restless to grove to Gujarati folk interspersed with choicest Bollywood tracks belted out by wannabes who couldn’t make it big in Bollywood. Of course, this year the Dandiya Queen Falguni Pathak has decided to desert the city for greener pastures, quite literally coz Falguni’s getting paid a cool 3 crore for 9 nights. But coming back to Mumbai, the scene at most Garba venues is quite the same every year. Weekdays it’s mostly like a pre-rush hour train crowd with people jostling in comfort but weekends is when it gets just like the 6.15pm Virar local. But that’s no deterrent for anyone. Passes are available at the venue but except for the ones who have season passes, those permanently glued to their cell phones outside the venue are almost always waiting for a complimentary pass to arrive from someone. But getting the entry pass is just the beginning. Once inside, your enjoyment inside depends upon where you belong coz the garba venue is divided among four types of people– the real feisty, fancy dressed revellers who always stay & play close to the stage at the same place, same time and in , same style everyday where the shortsighted judges & local cable TV cameras can notice them. Of course, ‘the judges’ at most Garba venues are losers (mostly obese aunties) whose only claim to fame is…well nothing! So these judges, who would otherwise only get pushed & shoved around by the self obsessed Garba revellers, finally get an evening of recognition & responsibility to choose the best dancers & the best dressed ones. And you cannot miss the action when these judge aunties & the frustrated, underpaid cameramen lurk around a group that is playing frantically with women wearing kilos of cloth/jewellery & men with their shaved armpits. The euphoria reaches a new high when the judge aunty stares at a reveller from the group who she thinks could deserve to win. The reveller is, of course, playing to win, so knows exactly who’s watching & when and seizes this opportunity to put on his/her best foot forward. But you should see how most of them try to look all ignorant when the judge aunty stops & asks for their name – they should also win an Oscar nomination. While the rest of the group pretends to be happy for their mate, the short sighted judge aunties continue lurking around the stage. Of course, the group continues playing as if nothing has happened but heart in heart the other losers are either sulking or hoping to get lucky later on. Of course, the group remains completely sacrosanct & impenetrable for the outsiders. Often you will also see the elderly & the two left feet variety from the group forming a fence around the revellers preventing two things – unwanted pile ons who could ruin a chance of winning & collisions with the other competitive groups. After all, everything is meticulously planned down to the last detail coz there is no room for error. Moving on, the second group of revellers are called the standees. These are the people who have been aspiring to play garba ever since they can remember, but life hasn’t been much of a progress. These people are truly outstanding and quite literally so, coz they stand outside every group watching, staring & sometimes even trying a step or two at the risk of being frowned at, but man they are headstrong and determined – to not move. Period. Then comes the third group of revellers who play in the middle & towards the fag end of the ground – a place where short sighted judge aunties and frustrated, underpaid camera crew never reaches. But these revellers have made their peace with that fact long back — all that matters to them is pure, unadulterated Garba. Of course, one could find quite a few gems here who dance like a dream but they are balanced out by those who have barely managed to clap in sync after years of rigorous trying.  So the third group of revellers is basically a mix of youngsters who do have a life beyond Navratri. These people either come straight from work or do little prepping up just so that they are dressed for the occasion unlike the fancy dress extravaganza of Group 1. But Group 3 is not all goody too shoes – they too have rules. While outsiders are mostly allowed in such groups, it’s appreciated if they are at least dressed for the occasion & know the basic steps like Popat, Sanedo & Teen Talli etc – so that they can sail through. Rank newcomers with two left feet & absolute bland dressing like Jeans, Tees etc are frowned upon & sometimes told off here as well – they are simply the misfits that nobody wants. While these groups can be quite big in size, there are mostly 2 or 3 who call the shots. They lead the change in steps & everyone has to follow. Of course, the outsiders are losers who don’t have nowhere to go so they better toe the line but even the others in the group invariably fall in line. And finally, there is the fourth group of revellers that is just about everywhere but these species are found in abundance in the middle or towards the end of the ground. These groups are made up of total losers comprising only men, only women or unisex, but what is common is their size which is often small around 4-6 and their utter disregard for anything that comes close to dance & grace. But they are a bunch of highly motivated individuals – unshakeable & rigid, quite literally, who should be allowed to play only in isolation. Their hazardous dance moves can cause stampedes & other heavy casualties. And watching all of this from their unique vantage point are the revellers who are the first to arrive and the last to leave — the audience.

Reality show called Marriage!

May 23rd 2010 — it was the day I witnessed a different kind of reality show but this time it was for real or was it? It was the day my little cousin sister got married and was sent off with her husband — quite common,  we all see it at all weddings. But what I noticed yesterday and actually through the days in the run up to the wedding is a virtual reality show that played out. To begin with, there was Sangeet for which all of us (cousins) got together and rehearsed for the final day of performance. Then on the day of the wedding there was a time for everything. There was a time to dress up, there was a time to come around and flaunt the new clothes, hairdo, footwear etc. There was time to be pally with the inlaws, there was a time to apologise to them for any anomaly that might have occurred etc — but all this is fine…it was only when it came to the proverbial Bidaai that it was time to cry and how…although, I held on to my own and never wept because I m truly happy for her but my aunt and the bride’s immediate brother sobbed like babies…and once the bidaai was over, everyone was back to normal…the wedding was over and so was yet another virtual reality show…!

My Name is Foolish Gullible Media

It’s Saturday and life in Bombay is as normal as it can get…a day after the Shiv Sainiks once again pulled off some cheap stunts to stay in the news, SRK’s extremely mediocre and bland film My Name is Khan has managed to do great business in Bombay, rest of the country and worldwide…now we all know that Shahrukh made that statement favouring Pak players for IPL but none of us know why he did not bid for them in the first place..then of course, the inevitible happened…publicity hungry, totally whacked out and ideologically confused desperado Shiv Sena found good fodder to bark…of course, 24X7 media was only too happy to oblige and adding fuel to fire Rahul Gandhi took a train ride in Mumbai sending out a strong message to the Sena to back off…then of course, the master of political treachery Sharad Pawar went to meet Bal Thackeray with his twisted face and thoughts. He convinced the ailing desparado to continue protesting against SRK and his film to deflect attention from more pressing issues like Sugar and inflation etc for which Pawar’s ally in Maharashtra Congress was pestering him. Then what, Sena was back playing to the gallery…The likes of Sanjay Raut & Uddhav Thackeray distributed sound bytes from the comforts of their fortified air conditioned offices and the foolish party workers proved how stupid they are as many were lathi charged, herded like cattle and sent packing to the jail as they protested against MNIK. Of course, Raj Thackeray too could keep himself from calling a press conference where he did his bit of patriotism — spoke in Marathi and supported SRK and trained his guns towards Big B — who cares…?Meanwhile, SRK was sent packing to Berlin and asked to stay there by Congress High Command and given strict orders not to apologise to Sena…of course, with an assurance that his film will be released. Not only did SRK’s purely mediocre film got a great opening in Bombay and elsewhere as many camera crazy fools, out of work actors like Pooja Bedi and her dad, Kunika etc came out with their imported shades and verbal diarrehea came running towards OB vans and cameras…SRK tweeted his way to glory, Congress basked in victory and Sena got some thrill shutting a few shops and pelting a few stones in Dadar like areas — woh kehte hain na apni gulley mein toh kutta bhi sher hota hai…so that and today as all the jokers involved in this controversy sort of had quite a win win situation — the joke was on us the media and the public…they played and we allowed it. Yes, it’s a Saturday and Sena is waiting for next controversy to play us, Congress is celebrating its ‘victory’, Sharad Pawar is thinking of his next political move…and of course, we are contemplating of catching MNIK and thousands of police constables are still posted outside and inside the theatres…both feeling equally miserable!

Misplaced patriotism

It was a typical sunday morning. But the raingods had decided to revisit Mumbai, throwing many a plans out of gear, but I decided to catch ‘Inglorious Basterds’, the latest Tarantino flick showing at a theatre near me. A 2pm show at Regal seemed most apt. So I somehow talked my relecutant bro into going with me. He wanted to watch an animated movie instead (talk about opposites, but we repel each other). Anyway, everything was fine till we settled down in our seats. Regal is notorious for not starting screening on time, by the way. It so happened that minutes before the national anthem was about to begin I got this call from the RCOM’s PR person about this ‘all imp’ press conference tomorrow. So I was just being a freindly neighbourhood journo that I am by telling him that someone will probably be there at the PC etc and suddenly the national anthem started. So I stood up and before I can tell the PR guy to hang up, someone sort of hit me behind my ear. I turned around to see who it is, although, at first I thought it’s my bro but it was this uncle (not a gentle fucking man at all) who was enraged at my little act of blasphemy. Again in a split second, while I was just about to hang up, the freakshow almost snatched my phone and yelled again asking me to hang up at which I lashed out saying, ” I am doing it you freak, will you just relax…”  we had a bit of an argument post the anthem but now this is really crazy. I don’t get this. Firstly, I absolutely don’t agree with having the national anthem played at the theatres. It’s a brainchild of some foolish, vote hungry politician. What is being acheived from this anyway? There is no practical answer. And secondly, if that freakshow was so patriotic, he better join army or navy or do something worthwhile for the country than going around forcing his misplaced patriotism on others. Bloody freak…!

embarrassment@rbi

It was like any other credit policy coverage…I reached the reserve bank of India a little before 9am. Gave a LIVE chat at 9am and followed the usual routine of getting the security passes and going in for the embargo etc…the new credit policy was released sharp at 11.15am under ‘strict’ vigil of the central bank’s PR team…but all that is just the build up to what I actually want to tell you…a strange incident at the Governor’s press conference that left me amused and feeling rather weird…for those who have attended Governor’s PC know that the Governor does not take questions from the journos out of turn and it’s only the one who is prescribed by RBI’s corp comm head Alpana Killawala, who gets to fire the question…since the policy had been much on the predictable lines with all key interest rates unchanged, I had actually decided not to ask any questions this time..but then, I had to make my presence felt in the PC…so I raised my hand, which was duly noticed by Alpana ma’am, who gestured me  to wait…and I obliged…all fine so far…problem began when this uncle sitting next to me suddenly decided he wanted to grill the Governor…he had earlier introduced himself as a journalist from regional a biz paper called ‘Vyapar’…anyway, the frail looking septugenarian started pulling the microphone toward him without..so I kind of whispered telling him in a very subtle tone , “actually I had a question..,” but the kind uncle could not care less. He ignored me and kept the mic with him intermittently trying to butt in with his question too…within minutes Alpana ma’am said announced, “ronak please ask your question..” again, my partner could not care less and started leaning toward the mic and asking his question…i was already red in my face with all the unwanted attention, so I whispered again, “it’s okay, let him go first…” not that I wanted to be a bigger person, i just dint want all the extra attention…but Alpana Ma’am again took my name…even as the uncle kept pulling the mic closer to him and even talking into it..finally, the Governor, asked…”who is Ronak…?”…I raised my hand almost in an impulse…”so you ask the question,” said the Governor…I had no choice, but to obey…so this time I pulled the mic to me and said, “yeah it’s me…from NewsX and here’s my question…” question taken, answer given…seemed like end of embarrassment…may be for me, but for the uncle it had just begun…from that moment onward, he kept raising his hand, struggling to  ask the question…at time even speaking into the microphone but all others kept getting a chance some even for the second time…at one time, the uncle even said it the microphone to which Alpana ma’am asked him to wait…poor uncle, kept raising his hands for his chance and then bringing them down in despair but he never ever got the chance even as all of us including the muted RBI staff gestured him to just speak out…finally, the PC got over and we dispersed…I last saw him walking out of the conference room feeling dejected…while as my momentous rage for him had long turned into empathy, other senior journos came up to me and asked , “why were you fighting with the old man..?” …

That irritating Tata coverage!

Ratan Tata never had it so good…Ever since the Nano and 26/11 , the guy’s being stalked by the media, every move, every little thing his company does is being lapped up by one and all…from Lemon TV to TV 18..and from Sakaal Times to the Times of India, everybody wants a part of Tata and how…but there is a slight problem now…Tata is happily mistreating the very media that has been so obliging…for whatever reasons, the incessant coverage has only brought more bucks for him and he knows that…but he cannot care less or else why would he and the corterie of PR persons take us for granted…in every damn coverage….and look how helpless we journos are..we stand up for others but almost always take all the crap that comes our way..coz at the end of the day, we just have to get over with the event and file the story…while I can understand the paranoia of the Tatas and their PR agency (Vaishnavi) during and even months after 26/11, what I cannot fathom is why are they so disgraceful even when all we are doing is giving them the publicity of a lifetime for their newly launched car…on the day Tata Nano was delivered to its first customer in Mumbai, hell could have been a better place than that showroom at Prabhadevi where the event took place…firstly, the small stage built for cameras was just enough for some 10 tripods, when they clearly knew they would have at least 40 cameras and that’s just TV…print excluded…while the event itself began an hour late, the media persons were not even offered so much as a glass of water throughout the event…this even as some random people including Nano’s first customers were comfortably put up and well taken care of in the showroom next door…this was off limits for us…but the pushovers that we are, most of us dint even bother to feel bad, all we wanted was a decent coverage…but when Mr Ratan Tata walked in, all hell broke lose…the print photographers invaded the space leaving no option for the TV cameramen to leave their ‘strategic’ positons and scramble forward…while quick reflexes and sheer disregard for discipline helped many to get the ‘all imp’ shot of Ratan Tata handing over keys of first Nanos to its new owners, others were left to hunt for a transfer of that extremely shaky footage…Mr Ratan Tata took off minutes after his grand entry, but left us at the mercy of the new heros (Ashok Vichare and some balakrishnan) who had pulled off a great feat…all by sheer luck…the new owners of Nano (referred to as heros from now on) were whisked away by Vaishnavi’s effecient PR persons and security to the blissfull showroom where there was water, food and AC…we waited endlessly outside for teh heros to finish  their little brunch…and small talk…with a bunch of other VIPs who were inside by the virtue of being a non media person, most were just random people who had sneaked in on pretext of window shopping cars…but who cares, they were still better than the media persons who were giving the Tata Motors, a coverage other auto companies can only wish for…hours of wait, more scramble and sweat later, the event thankfully came to an end…but what had just begun was dehydration and a splitting headache…however, those came to an end soon but the humiliation is just manifesting on…!

My experience of covering 26/11 for NewsX

Heyyyyyyyyyy….finally I have got down to updating you on all the things that have been happening in and around my life…and believe me this time the coming few lines are going to be as action packed as it can get…some of the most nail biting and truly adventurous moments of my life as a journalist…

Day 1 – How it all began for me

It all began on that fateful evening of Wednesday, Novemeber the 26th…an evening that was to change the way the world would think…an evening that was going to wreck the collective conscience of my city, my nation and yet unite us…an evening that was the beginning of an end for many..I don’t even remeber how my day had begun on 26/11 but i distinctly remember it had been an unusually lean day…after an unproductive few hours I had thought of pushing off early and catching a movie with my friends since Mumbai 022 — our city show too for some reason had been cancelled once again….but since the movie plan was not really happening I stayed on and finally left office only at around 9.30 pm — I was at Girgaum on my way home when my friend Kaushal called…asking me if I wanted to join them for a 10 pm Dostana show at Regal..since he had an extra ticket..after some initial reluctance I agreed but not before going home and grabbing a quick byte and thank God I did that because what was to follow would have left me starved for hours…anyway…at around 9.55 I was zippnig past Fashion Street on my Honda Activa when the phone ring interrupted a latest Bollywood track that i was listening to on my mobile through the ear piece..”where are you,” a familiar voice enquired, it was my college friend Sunil..in a hurried tone, Sunil told me that something sort of an encounter had happened somewhere near Gateway of India…and that he was right outside the Taj Mahal Hotel…it was now almost 10pm — time for teh show to begin and I had just crossed Flora Fountain…much as I did not want to miss the movie…I also did not intend on missing out on any roadside action that could translate into a story…I made a decision in an instant and told Sunil to stay put where he was…even as I parked my bike near the beginning of the lane behind the Taj, there was a crowd gathered there watching Nishad Samshi from IBN 7 desperately trying to do a walkthrough…shouting out loud in his typical hindi news channel style, I quickly dismissed him as yet another Hindi channel overreaction to an encounter…but what i could not dismiss was a police van that just zipped past me and I could see an injiured foreigner inside…i walked up to sunil and told him it was probably some encounter between local police and foreigners after a drug bust…a story that did not merit much attention but nonetheless I had already called Rahul and asked him to send the night cameraperson at Gateway…after bidding adieu to Sunil, I rushed into Regal to enjoy the rest of the movie albeit with a sense of guilt…however within minutes, Sunil who had by now reached CST, called me again..telling me someting had happened at CST too…I rushed out of the theatre in a bid to check what was happening..it was now around 10.15 pm and locals had started getting a whiff that something was terribly wrong in the city….and there was a major traffic jam from Regal toward Leopold…even as I made my way toward the Leopold cafe i got another call telling me something had happened at Nariman point near Oberoi as well…but i continued to downplay these calls thinking they were rumours of restless minds…the scene at Leopold though was a telling one…I could see dozens of bullets on the pavement outside the cafe..there was blood, personal belongings like footwear, glasses strewn all around…the glass panes were shattered and the one that had withstood the firing bore holes of bullets peiercing through them…by now many more print and electronic journalists had reached the site and camerapersons had started capturing the tell tale signs of firing and bloodbath at the cafe in their PD 170s…my camera person was probably still leaving office because he reached after a good 20 minutes…i could see the visuals slip away from my hands as the police had started cordoning off the area…i called my cameraperson and asked him to reach soon…but I was still relaxed as i thought i will eventually get a transfer…meanwhile, i was thinking may be i could still catch the movie as i was secretly hoping that once i feed these visuals it would be all over…but inside, i guess i had almost said goodbye to my movie plan as even if Leopold was the only place of attack, the logistical quagmire to get these visuals on air would gobble up most of my time..and what did i know that this was just the beginning…meanwhile, our Delhi office called and took me on air to describe what had happened at the Leopold cafe…i said what I could see and explain what Leopold & Colaba was all about but I still did not confirm a terror attack until another colleague of mine went on air stating that the city had indeed hit by multiple terror attacks…after the phone-in, I found an eyewitness who was an American tourist who had seen the carnage…I put him on air through phone in the second phono…and he narrated to Maha, our anchor…”armed gunmen had opened fire on the unassuming foreigners and Indians sitting inside the famous Leopold cafe…around 10 people including staff members had been killed and the gunmen had fled…finally, at around 10.45 pm my cameraperson arrived and i got my first visuals at the cafe and sound byte of the same eye witness for record…as usual our car and driver were miles away from Leopold as police wouldn’t allow him in…I figured it was no point trying to get to the car…i realised I had my bike parked near Regal and I could use it to get to my sole OB van that had been positioned at CST opp Mcdonalds..I did just that…once at CST, I uplinked the visuals and the bytes that I had and was asked to go collect visuals of Cama hopsital from our correposndent Preeti Gupta who along with many other channel crew had been stopped by police at Haj House below JJ bridge…I reached Preeti, left my camerperson Sanjay with her  and instead took hers with me…before the police could notice us, we made off on our bike…once at CST, i uplinked her visuals and continued with Ranjit…I was asked to go to St George hospital where apparently injured and dead were being brought…I reached St George on my bike with my camerperson…and as usual the people were miffed with mediapersons…nonetheless I told Ranjit (my cameraperson) to be a little smart and get some shots while i go inside the hosp and check on casualties…once inside i went straight to the casualty ward and asked for a fresh pair of hand gloves so that I could disguise as an intern …I was just putting them on and i heard loud cries of a woman…she was mourning death of her daughter who had been killed in the firing at CST…I went up to her and tried asking her if she can come out and speak on camera but she was too aggrieved to agree…I gave up after two tries but when I turned around and peeped through a temporary partition of curtains on the ground floor, I was shocked to see about 50 dead bodies lying down on the floor of the hospital…it was THEN that the magnitude of the attack finally struck me..I could picturise how the terrorists had fired indiscriminately at the unassuming passengers boarding, getting off the trains…waiting at the station for their trains..buying a ticket for a journey that was cut short…I came out…and called my office again…explaining them what had happened at the CST station…with some visuals from outside the St George hospital and a clear picture of the ghastly act…i again made my way to the OB van and uplinked the visuals..and also gave a LIVE…from there all without a tripod as it had been lying in the car which was now at an undisclosed location and i could not care less…i had my humble yet reliable Activa…that had become God send for me and my channel that night…while we already had visuals of Leopold cafe and CST victims…we had nothing of Taj and Oberoi where the action had just begun…since the police was obstructing movement even the media vehicles, i was left with my bike to do the running around..collect visuals from various locations and bring them to the OB van at CST and feed them to Delhi…it was an adrous task but I had no choice…i had doubled up as a rider…Bike was quick but dangerous too….I had to get the visuals of the Taj and the Oberoi to the OB where other teams had already been deployed…just as i started for Oberoi, i got a call from my production manager who had been stopped by police near the Haj House below JJ bridge…our OB was running out of its diesel that is needed to run the genset…he requested me to collect the gallons of diesels or the OB would crash…I had to risk this…I once again asked my cameraperson to get on the bike with me and we reached Haj house within minutes..I collected the diesel and started off again…but this time i was really wary since the police could have mistaken us for miscief mongers or terrorists and shot us..i wasn’t even stopping at the occassional calls by the hawaldars or their inane whistling to stop us..I told my camerperson to keep the PD light of the camera on and the display the boom mic prominently enough…finally, we managed to deliver the disel and headed toward Taj and Oberoi…collected teh visuals from Ishan who was at Taj and Gayatri at Oberoi ands headed back to CST…after feeding both the visuals…and a couple of lives later, i figured it was time to bring down the OB van signal and move it from CST to Taj where the terrorists had sneaked in and were randomly killing people with their assault kalashnikovs and setting the heritage structure on fire…again, it was a risk but had to be taken…police were not even allowing media vehicles to ply and get in near Taj, but we could not keep the OB away from Taj any longer…some one needed to give LIVE feed from there…I could only hope that somehow the OB driver would make it to the Taj…so once the OB was moved…I too joined my colleague Ishan Choudhary who was posted outside Taj…the police had not yet cordoned off the area outside Taj and we were able to go really close to the hotel and take shots…the 4th floor of the old heritage buidling was on fire and the fire brigade was not only trying to douse the flames but also rescuing guests who were stuck inside…we could get shots of people being rescused out of the windows and even managed to get bytes from few…later we had to move back but still very much in the range of fire and grenades…minutes later…the news trickled in that a jewish guest house called Nariman house in Colaba has come under attack too….i did not care much as another unit was propbaly being deplyed there…but then came the news of ATS cheif Hemant Karkare who i knew personally being shot dead along with two other top officers — encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of  Police Ashok Kamte…Like many other journos, I too could not believe that Karkare was dead…so i did not really react at that point, but later it turned out to be true and i still cant believe he’s no more…i still remember the day he assumed office as the new ATS chief…i knew his predecessor KP Raghuvanshi well too…it was sometime earlier this year…although we were not launched then, I decided to cover his swearing in so i could get to know him better….he was very courteous since then and he always took my call till the Malegaon case happened…meanwhile a lot had changed in my channel too…Ishan and Preeti Gupta had joined since then…and were looking after crime and i shifted focus to biz & generral, so i seldom called him anyway…but just a few days back i had attended a PC held by him at crime branch to clear misleading media reports regarding Malegaon probe…and he was visibly irritated by some of the repeated questions…i also remember how just a few days back when i had just casually dropped in to see our JCP law & order KL Prasad, Karkare too had come to his office and he was so polite that he shook hands with me and sir and waited on the side till i finished with Prasad sir…of course, i did not make him wait too long…but the incident just showed how courteous and considerate he was…a loud thud possibly from a grenade blast from the heritage building of the Taj hotel brought me back to the present…it was time to decide our deployment for the rest of the nite…so while Ishan manned the front gate…I posted myself at the back gate…the gate from where the two militants had entered after their killing spree at Leopold — since the lane behind the cafe leads straight into hotel’s back entrance…the 2 were later joined by other two who entered from the front gate…one of the commandos posted outside the back gate saw my cameraperson and me sneaking in the area and warned us, even threatening us..but we decided to stay put even as random gunshots and grenade blasts were being heard from inside…minutes later one of the commandos came in and shouted…”just shoot them…as soon as they come out…no negotitaions…”…my camera person Krishna and I looked at each other…Krishna asked me move away to safety but how could i leave him alone…so i told him that either we are doing it together or not doing it all…it was a moment of truth..none of the other channels had dared to post themselves at the backside of the Taj Hotel…although, i did not foresee too much danger, the continous gun shots kept us on tenterhooks…initially, we stood with our back against the wall but after some reprimands from the commandos, we decided to move back and ducked under a car in ready position to roll camera/flee as per the situation…i thought it was just us and the commandos in the dead of the night where the only sounds that could be heard were of gunshots, blasts and blood bath that was taking place a few metres away from us, but we were so helpless…suddenly, a few murmurs from behind startled…i looked back and saw a couple of still photographers waiting behind another car…i went up to them…one of the smarty pants from them asked me in an unabashed tone, “exclusive ke liye cameraman ki jaan lega kya,”…i was shocked and dint know how to react..now here’s a man..standing just a few metres away from us…himself in the line of fire with some others and yet accusing me of putting my camerperson’s life in danger…who too is just doing his job…so i just retorted that my cameraperson was there at his own will and i had indeed been very reasonable in telling him that he was free to post himself anywhere he felt was safe…not that i owed the hypocrite photo journo ann explaination, but i guess being rude just does not come to me that easily and i am so not proud of that…and also for me, for some strange reason, i did not foresee too much danger in being there that night…there is a strange sense of immortality within me that is almost sure that i will not die untimely…and that sense did not betray me that night too…i knew we will live another day…and we did….anyway, rest of the night was uneventful..with sounds of gunshots continuing at regular intervals…the sleep deprevation had begun to atch up just before the dawn…but more than sleep i was in a desperate need for a charger for my phone that was on the verge of gobbling up the 2nd battery too…i also wanted to relieve myself among other things..suddenly a door behind me opened up and the security guard came out with a water bottle for the commandos…i noticed it was the Taj’s quarters where the staff of the more fortunate staff of the hotel that had escaped certain death had been kept…they did not let us inside but as soon as one of the young staff members came out, i immediately pounced on him with a barrage of questions…he started talking but i wanted to put him on camera, so i requested him for a byte and he obliged without much persuasion…just then another cameraperson from one of the Hind channesls who had joined us later in teh morning, too put his boom and we got the sound byte…this staff member was frm the front desk and he told us how he managed to escape while many of his colleagues perished trying to save the guests…i don’t remember exactly what all he said, but any eye witness byte at that point was invaluable..i asked my camerperson to go to the OB and uplink it…by now, the first rays of morning sun had broken out and it was bright daylight…suprisingly, locals living behind the Taj who had been holding up safely in their homes through the night had spilled over on to the street now…i figured, one of them could help me with a charger and even as i walked toward them, a young teenaged guy came up to me asking me if i needed a mobile charger..like he had read my mind…i immediately seized the opportunity and followed him to his home…i was led into a dingy, dimly lit staircase that culminated on the first floor…it was a chawl inside the building with a common toilet…i followed the young man to the last room on the floor…where a family squeezed in a 10*12 room was glued to, as expected, Star News…the guy put my phone on charge and looking at the newsX boom in my hand, the rest of the family members got up..i freshened up at the common toilet…and went downstairs to check the situation outside…suddenly i saw some crowding in the street…the police and commandos were evacuating a shop and curious onlookers were being shooed away from what looked like a suitcase..it was pink in colour..within seconds, a man with a sniffer dog was making his way toward the suitcase and i was told by one of the commandos that they were suspecting some explosives in it…the BDS was yet to arrive..i went back upstairs and waited there for a while…and as my phone sprang back to life i once again started giving phone-ins, intermittently checking on what was happening downstairs…but nothing concrete was comin out…once my phone was adequately charged, i decided it was time to move near the rest of my crew which was in front of the Taj Hotel…after a while i was told that some explosives were indeed found in a lane behind Taj, but the news remains unconfirmed as once i was at the Gateway of india, infront of Taj, I was totally preoccupied by the happenings there…Ishan was still there with Rucha, a student who was interning with us…it was about 8ish now our senior correspondent from Delhi, Mr Ajay Suri too had arrived by now…i met my crew and decided to stay posted at the Gateway itself..right through the morning…i kept giving LIVES, taking bytes of some hostages who strayed into the where the world media camped…the NSG operation was in full swing inside the hotel… outside of course, there were known faces from all channels like Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Srinivasan Jain, Sanjay Singh, Deepak Chaurasia doing LIVES along side and I felt good abt doing the same thing for my channel…it was about 1 pm and i realised i hadn’t eaten a morsel for over 14 hours now and no tea…still i did not feel like eating…I was completely drained…the sun was harsh and my head had begun to spin…Ishan and Rucha had left…Since Ajay sir was also doing the lives…i could think of leaving for a while…the operation was on…but i wanted to get away frm the Gateway of India…finally at around 1.30 i got a chance to leave for home albeit for just a couple of hours…i went to CST by car and collected my bike that i had left on the road the prev night…thankfully, it wasn’t towed away…i somehow rode back home from CST…once at home, the first thing i did was to take a shower…the warm water running through my body felt like a blessing and i could have slept in the bathroom itself…but there was work to be done…i put my phone that was once again dead on charge and lied on my bed for just a few seconds…before i could realise, i was fast asleep…i was woken up my mom’s soothing voice…two people from my office had come to call me back…i had no recollection of when i had fallen asleep…it turned out that i had only been sleepin for about an hour…and had forgotten to switch the phone on…i gingerly walked out of my room to the living room…Rajesh, our rider and Umesh, our trainere cameraperson were sitting on the sofa…they told me in an apologetic tone that they had been asked to report back to office…my head was still spinning but more than anyone else it was me who wanted to get back to work…i was glad they came…coz i did not wish to miss out on the coverage of my life…my mom quickly made tea for the 3 of us, the two men had their share & left as i told them i would follow them on my bike..minutes after they left, i got ready, picked up my bag and left for office..so far it had been so mechanical… i had been indifferent to what was happening around me…to the tragedy that had shattered so many lives and families…but as i was riding back to office…i could feel my eyes well up and tears streaming down my cheeks…it was difficult to see clearly…but i had to keep moving…i reached office and there was a round of applause from my people in the office…”good coverage…keep it up”..i could hear collective sounds…so unexpected, so pleasant…so overwhelming…all i could do is humbly join my hands and say thanks to them…after all, i still don’t think i had done a great job…i hadn’t been able to get into damm hotel…i was just outside….just a tad better than many other bystanders who chose to be around succumbing to their curiosity…anyway, since the operation was still on…at Taj, i neither had the time to feel good abt my work nor introspect abt what all i had missed out on…I had to rush back to the site…where the action was on…and i left the Taj once again…for yet another experience…it was around 6 pm in the evening and most the operation was still on…gunshots, grenade blasts…fire ragin on…everything as i had left in the noon…while most journos had become used to, teh dramatic versions of the going ons inside the hotel was not lost in their lives…especially the Hindi guys…i too was getting overwhelmed by every gun shot and blast that i heard…but i somehow managed to control my anxities on air…it was now getting dark and the one thing that was bothering most journos was the uninterrupted flow of curious on lookers for whom the raging gunbattle inside the Taj was no deterrant to join in the media frenzy outside…most of us have become used to the unwanted public hovering around the camera often being reprimanded by us but that evening it was becoming difficult to operate with so many people just clogging the area for no reason…i guess the fascinating OB vans and the lure of the arch lights coupled with LIVE action inside the Taj was just too much to resist for most of them…but the most frustrating part was these unwanted guests were not so much of a problem for the local police who did a great job of keeping us away from just about anywhere…the NSG operation going on inside the Taj Hotel and I am now actually  finding it difficult to tell one day from another…it’s so confusing to chornologically remember the sequence of activities of three nights and two days… no I cannot afford to forget…let me go this way…this was the first evening and within a few hours the nightmare for the people inside the hotel was going to be full 24 hours…it was around 7 pm now and the dome fire was raging on inside the Taj Hotel…the NSG commandos had secured the new building and the action was definitely in the old heritage building where the four terrorists were locked in bloody battle with the NSG commandos…more people holed up in their rooms were dying of asphyxiation than from the bullets…amidst all this, the news came in that Taj’s  General manager had lost his wife and two sons even as he was trying to save others….all the reporters went on air with this piece of news including me…and suddenly there was a flurry of activity behind us…ambulances that had been so far waiting at the Gateway right next to us now had started moving toward the front gate giving us an indication that the hostages were being brought — dead or alive who could tell…and suddenly a word was spread that the operation was coming to an end…in  a bid to ‘break’ the news first many reporters started going on air saying the operation had apparently ended…but the truth was that it was far from over…i checked one of my sources who i believed was privy to what’s happening inside and then went on air saying that it does look like the operation has reached its crescendo…and…i was LIVE with my boss Arup Ghosh who was anchoring from new delhi…but since i had no official confirmation on the status , i toed a very non commital line…and moreover let the visuals do the talking…looking at the hectic activity outside the hotel, most of us were convinced it was pretty much the end game..but just then more gunshots were heard from inside, putting all rumours of a closure to rest…and time to look for a more trustworthy source…a few more hours later, it was finally time for me to go home so that i could recharge myself for the next day…

Day 2 – The Taj nightmare continues…

I was hoping that by morning the nightmare would be over for all of us…but that was not meant to be, not for the Taj at least…by morning, there was a marked progress in operations at the Nariman House and the Oberoi…but i was so pre occupied with Taj, that i really could not spare a thought for the other two sites…i reached office and our bureau was buzzing with activity that morning…a whole coningent from our Delhi office was in Mumbai…once in office, i tried immersing myself on the desk work for a while…since there was no clear consensus on who i should be relieving…more anchors, reporters had come in from Delhi and were already fanned across the three locations and reporters at Nariman House and Oberoi did not even want to be relieved as the operation at both the sites indeed seemed like heading toward a definite conclusion…but i was obviously itching to go back to the Taj though….suddenly, i remembered the last time I had been to the Taj for a press conference…and the thought instantly flashed images of the scene outside the Taj then…the security was tight but still something was amiss…i remember how one of the sniffer dogs was sniffing around my tripod bag before we were let in…ironically, later i got to know that one of the dogs too lost its life in the attack..even its handler was killed…anyway, that morning there had a press conference of JSW steel (they were to announce a merger) at the roof top of the old Taj…and I had been there to cover the event…as i was about to pack up and leave…the housekeeping staff at the Taj opened the blinds of the windows and a breathkaing view of the city, along with the coastline was thrown open…I was just awestruck by the view…I instructed my cameraperson to take the magnificent shots…the city was shining on that bright Monday morning in all its brillaince…the boats were sailing…the birds were flying….the traffic was moving and standing on Taj’s rooftop, it looked like I owned Bombay…but that was then, at this point, that beautiful rooftop was up in flames even as most of it was already charred to ashes…news had it that the terrorists had come through the sea route and how our porous coastline had once again let us down after ’93 blasts…I had no idea that the visuals of the Gateway I took that morning would have to be put on on air at such a time…i quickly sourced it out and sent it to our Delhi office…and then…it was time for me to move out and go to Taj again… this time thankfully our local police had finally woken up to our woes and was not letting the general public at at the Gateway…after a good 40 hours, they had remembered to keep the overzealous crowds out of harm’s way…meanwhile, the operation at the Taj was no where near completion…if anything, it had only intensified, and as every gun shot, every blast was beamed live on national as well as international television, it was not just india, but the world that was hooked…now, the gateway had become a virtual battleground and even the city journos who were so far covering petty local stories were having the reporting experience of a lifetime, of course, most channels had their best bets on the field…and as the firing was getting louder, most journos had sensed the imminent danger, were now giving LIVES lying flat on the ground…the kind of drama most channels die for…i too had my share of ‘adventurous lives’ …but by noon, we were back to our relaxed positions…of course, like it happens in most continous coverages, considerate channel admins send food to the venue, it’s always the regular biryani or pulav that’s so inedible…so it was time for lunch for most of us…and even as the battle inside the Taj had almost become second nature now, crew members had started taking turns in going to their respective OB vans for lunch…sounds of gunshots didn’t seem that startling anymore…now it was more abt the intensity of the sound…but suddenly i could feel commotion behind me…in a reflex, i  called for my cameraperson to join in the melee…a man who later turned out to be a bystander had been slightly injured by a splinter from a grenade attack, camerpeople were swarming around him even as someone was frantically calling for an ambulance, I could see some blood stains on the man’s back…my eyes were constantly trying to spot my cameraperason to check if he was getting the shot…and to my great relief he was…finally, the injured guy, who by the way, seemed just fine, was kind of enjoying his few seconds of fame as dozenns of cameras were hovering for a glimpse of his, was rushed to the hospital…i called my camerperson back and uplinked the shots to Delhi…just as we were getting back to normal there was another loud thud inside the Taj and this time a splinter came flying by toward us hitting a photo journalist from an international publication, it had hit her knee and i could see blood there, initially, there were rumours that she was shot but looking at the tiny blood stain on her knee it clearly wasn’t a bullet shot…now as she was limping around to find an ambulance once again, there were cameras hovering all around her, literally blocking her way, this time my cameraperson was on the job…but i was feeling sorry for the girl and also guilty…but there was pretty much nothing i could do, thankfully within minutes she got onto an ambulance and was sped off to a hospital…i messaged my office ppl abt the incident & uplinked the visuals…suddenly i got a call from one of my cousins asking me if i was okay, i replied in affirmative…clearly, the news of a journo ‘being shot’ had been flashed already….within minutes the scene was back to normal but a feeling of vulnerability was more palpable this time…after a few minutes of relative lull…there was commotion once again, there was news or rather rumour that there was firing once again at CST. We were at such a juncture that there was no time to check or confirm rumours, except rush to the place from where the rumour is emanating…i grabbed one of our camerapersons and rushed toward regal where our cars were parked..it was like a mini marathon of channel crews….everyone wanted to reach CST asap…once at Regal, I quickly hailed a cab and even as I got in from the right side door…a PTI reporter got in from the left…naturally, both of us wanted to go to the same place…at CST, traffic was scant and the usual buzz was missing…instead there was hightened security…a police van parked besides Capitol cinema had its windshield shattered… a visual that spoke for itself…however, the cops at the van denied any reports of fresh firing and said the glass was shattered two days back, something we found hard to believe…but even as we were trying to get more details, there was another  gun shot…all hell broke lose & we all ran towards Mc Donalds…i was on call with my Delhi office and they put me on air….this was the time when many cable operators across the city had pulled the plug on news channels following an order from the police…but strangely enough, my home that falls in the heart of south mumbai — infact very close to CST itself was getting all channels as normal…anyway, i went on air confirming that a gun shot had been heard but the police were still in denial mode…we also had the commissioner of the central railway security on phone line with us who confirmed that after a loud thud was heard, many people had started running out of the station…a chilling reminder of the night of 26/11 when the two gunmen had opened indiscriminate firing…but the commissioner also confirmed that the station had been checked and nothing untoward had been found and that services were being restored…meanwhile, it turned out that the gun shot we heard was actually a misfire by one of the cops…talk about being careless…once I was sure that the CST was indeed safe…i left for Taj once again…back at the Taj, however, gunshots and loud thuds continued as usual…we were not sure if there were still hostages inside…since LIVES were taken care by my colleague Mr Ajay Suri, the urge to get closer to the hotel was killing me…finally, when i could not resist it any longer…I walked past the rope that was meant to be media’s ‘Lakshanrekha’…I was now exactly besides the Gateway of India where ambulances, police vehicles and some BEST buses were parked…a group of good samaritans was distributing tea and biscuits from one of the vehicles…among other things, a hot cup of tea was just what i needed before i go on my little adventure trip…i stealthily sneaked behind the parked vehicles and somehow reached near much closer to the Hotel’s main entrance dodging attention…this time i was exactly opposite the first floor of the heritage building where most of the action was  now concentrated…I could now clearly see the commandos in action…one of the commandos was standing in alert position on the balcony right above the front gate where the cars used to be parked…I could see some movement through the windows of the first floor…it wasn’t very clear but sillehoutes of people moving inside could be seen…there was sudden vibration in my pocket…it was my delhi office calling for a phone in…I  was torn between excitment of sharing my little adventure on air and being responsible but after hours of dealing with the ultra modern terrorists most of us had come to realise that it wasn’t just our uncles & aunts watching us…and anyway, it wasn’t like i had gone inside the Taj…so I only said that most action seems to be concentrated on the first floor…but after  a while i was spotted by a security personnel who of course asked me to leave…back in the media holding area, every one was just waiting…not knowing how much more time this could take.. since the cameras were feeding LIVE visuals , there wasn’t a very great need for reporter live chats, anchors could figure out what was happening anyway..so even the LIVE chats were turning out to be very  symbolic…the rest of the evening everyone just continued wondering when the operation would end…by late evening the operation at the Trident and Nariman house had ended and the our crew from both the sites had converged on the Gateway…just then there were reports from within the Taj that the operation was over and all the terrorists had been killed…most of us had fallen to such unconfirmed reports earlier so this time it was the case of once bitten twice shy…although, this time it looked more convincing to me…collectively it was decided that in absence of any confirmation, it was not a good idea to draw conclusions…later it turned out that the operation at the Taj was still on, it was time to decide our allocation for the next day…it was decided that I would cover ATS chief Hemant Karkare’s funeral the next morning…so  I went home that night…even as our operations’ team too had come to the gateway, perhaps, to get a sense of what was happening…for me, it was the ambiguity of the operation was really frustrating…

Day 3 – Taj ordeal ends, but the story has just begun

Once again, I hoped that the Taj gets free before the next morning…I had to do LIVE chats from Shivaji Park Crematorium from as early as 8 o’clock…it was a gloomy Saturday morning where the city was unusually quiet…the operation at the Taj was still on…it had now been over 60 hours since the time the terrorists had entered our city…as I reached crematorium, I got a call from office to report to the Taj at once…as it was once again on fire…I rushed to the Taj …hungry flames were licking the heritage building  all over again…my colleague Kamlesh, who had been at the Taj through the nite was giving LIVE updates…and minutes after I reached, the operation finally, came to an end as the last terrorist had been flushed out (quite literally) at around 7 am itself…we got an official sound byte from the NSG cheif at around 9 or 10 am, I don’t remember the exact time…but i do remember that it was one hell of a task to get that sound byte…we had 3 camera units at the Taj, since another of my colleague Saarthak too had joined us by now…and all of us were pressed into taking that ALL IMPORTANT sound byte in the last 60 hours of ordeal…the operation was over, but our work had only begun…the next few hours was a scramble to get as many details abt the operation as possible…I scouted for hostages, NSG commandos, visuals from inside the Taj — just about anything to get the inside info…finally, my cameraperson managed to get some visuals of Ratan Tata who came to the Taj later that morning…and I got some interviews of the NSG  commandos who were extremely reluctant to speak to us…but I had no choice…I shoved my mic through the windows of the BEST buses they were sitting into and after a lot of persuasion and interrogation some of them spilled some beans about the operation..it was a time when everything we did was making it on air…once the hotel was almost sanitised by the NSG, we were allowed to go closer…but none of us could really sneak into the hotel…although some managed to do a piece to camera closer to the entrance…now the focus was really on getting as much CCTV footage as we could get…but that would take time so I did not bother myself with that…my immediate worry was to get inside the hotel, but even as I lurked around the hotel with my cameraperson, picking up fights with the local police there, I could only manage to go to the other side of the hotel and get some shots of the lanes around the hotel that had so far been off limits…later I was asked to move away from the Taj and do some ‘human  interest’ stories on survivors…Finally, it was time for me to leave the Taj, but only to keep coming back in days to come….as I left the Taj that afternoon…every emotion in me had come alive and died…I started walking away from the Taj, but as I turned around for one last glance at the hotel, images of the past 60 hours flashed my mind…suddenly, I was near the Taj and a police van with blood soaked foreigners was zipping past…bullets and blood littered outside Leopold…mutilated bodies lying on the floor St George hospital…I was ducking under a car behind the Taj, gun shots, grenades were going off  in quick succession….’shoot at site’…the thundering command from one the NSG commandos…the flames leaping out of the Taj…the splinters flying towards us…the blood oozing out…life was in the shadow of death…in the last 60 hours….it all came crashing down on me…I froze for a second and then started moving towards Regal…that was all  the time I had…to pause, because the story….wasn’t over yet…///

(keep watching this space for more….)

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