Where I was during the Bombay attacks

Ed and I spent our first week in Goa indulging in the quintessential Goan lifestyle: cruising around on motorbikes and laying on the beach by day while partying, dancing and passing around an unnecessary chicken mask by night (it really deserves repeated mention).

When my proverbial Indian brother Arjun invited us to an Indian wedding in Pune, we jumped at the opportunity. We made sure we stayed out all night before our 12 hour bus ride on Saturday, and arrived just in time for the first party. We stayed through the weekend, returning to Goa on an overnight bus Monday night.

By Tuesday morning we planned to return to Pune the following day. We had met some wonderful Swedish students studying in Pune, and this time the excuse to celebrate was a Swedish bachelorette party. During our mandatory all-nighter Tuesday night, we met 2 Kazakhstani cousins that were almost too much fun, and Ed opted to stay in Goa with them while I made the day trip back to Pune alone. Pune is about three hours from Bombay, an easy commute in India. Ed's flight was departing from Bombay Saturday morning, so we made plans to reunite for a lavish farewell party at one of the Taj hotels friday night.

I arrived at my hotel in Pune around 9pm. I got ready for the party and my good friend Pavit picked me up. Many of my best memories in Pune are cruising around in Pavit's car. The party was at the posh nightclub Pyramids, where redbull and vodka's cost $12 and the Swedes had been partying all day. Pavit and I caught up with our friends Malin and Kristin, danced and congratulated the bride to be.

An hour later, Pavit got a phone call from Arjun, who was in Bombay. He walked away from the party music to listen to his call, and returned almost immediately to tell Malin and I that there was an attack in Bombay, that gunmen had open fired at Cafe Leopold's. He didn't know many details, but there were guns and bombs involved, and he thought we should leave the club to be safe. He got another call and walked off to take it. Malin and I sat down, speechless for a moment, surrounded by the thud of club trance music. We discussed our options; do we stay and assume its an isolated incident? Do we try to round up the 18+ people at the party and call it a night, or do we just go ourselves?

Pavit returned. The Taj Hotel in Colaba, the main tourist neighborhood of Bombay was also under attack. The Taj and Cafe Leopold's are down the street from one another in Colaba, the main tourist neighborhood of Bombay, and are two of the most prominent landmarks for international travelers.

There were unconfirmed stories that gunmen were shooting people on the roads between Bombay and Pune and Pavit wanted us to leave immediately. Malin and Pavit went looking for Kristin. Her boyfriend was landing in Bombay that night and taking a taxi to Pune to see her after three months overseas.

Pavit ran off one way, and Malin went to ask a drunken Indian friend if he'd seen her. Ignoring the clear concern in her inquiry, he wrapped his arms around her, making a pass at her. He dropped his drink, shattering glass and whisky everywhere, and I pulled her from his confused grasp. We walked away and found Pavit with Kristin, who was crying. Pavit had told her.

The four of us left the club, without stopping at coat check to get the girls' bags.

Kristin sobbed as she tried to contact Oscar on his phone. He had already landed and was in a taxi in Bombay. There was now word that attacks had also occurred at the Oberoi Hotel and the CST - the central train station. Kristin had originally told Oscar to get a hotel in Bombay that night across the street from the CST, and just take a train to Pune the next morning, but he insisted on coming that night.

Oscar's taxi driver spoke no English, and Pavit translated. We debated if Oscar should stay in the city at a hotel or risk the roads, but it was already a struggle to get out of Bombay as the police began battling the terrorists and it would only get worse, so Oscar continued on to Pune.

We arrived at Kristin's hotel room sometime after midnight, and Pavit once again translated to the hotel clerks the situation at hand. Malin and I stayed with her as she waited for Oscar. Pavit, who remained calm and collected this whole evening as he took care of us, left to go be with his family so they wouldn't worry.

The hotel offered Kristin everything in the mini bar free of charge as she waited, and we raided the miscellaneous sodas and chocolate bars. Her tears were replaced by relaxing laughter and the constant inhale of chainsmoking cigarettes, as we felt safer ourselves. Oscar continued to send joking texts, constantly referencing the impossible language barrier with his driver.

We were glued to the news. The media repeated the only pictures they could gather in the short time since the attacks began. Smoke rose from the rooftop of the Taj Hotel, where alleged grenades had started a fire. Cafe Leopold's was seemingly destroyed inside, the floors covered in blood. One report quoted a tourist saying she had to climb over bodies to flee the attacks.

The news stations repeated four images over and over during the lull's in updates. A close up of an AK-47 bullet hole in the glass of Cafe Leopold's. Destroyed tables and the bloodsoaked floors. A police officer running across the street carrying an injured bystander. They also showed a dead body, face down in the back of an ambulance, the medic lifting his head by his hair to reveal the bloodied face. This image was blurred only after it had aired a couple times.

The reporters noted that the police told nothing of their operations, in case the terrorists were watching. We learned that a few attackers had hijacked cars, including a police van, and were driving the streets shooting at random. This is probably why Pavit had originally heard there were gunmen on the roads between Bombay and Pune.

One of the more terrifying pieces of news came with the deaths of multiple high ranking police officers. Within an hour of the news showing images of Hemant Karkare, the head of the anti-terrorism devision arriving on the scene , it was reported that he had been killed. It's scary to hear that innocent people are being murdered. When the attackers can kill the top officials trying to protect you, it is chilling.

A few interviews came out from escaped hostages. The terrorists were asking for American and British passports. They now had also attacked the Chabad house, where several Jewish families lived, including the head of the Bombay Jewish community. He and his wife were later killed. As I write this, there is an Israeli girl on the phone next to me, crying. The only word I can decipher in her Hebrew is "Bombay."

Authorities were raiding the Taj and Oberoi hotels, where an unknown number of hostages were being held as we all gradually fell asleep.

We were woken by the door's buzzer at 4am when Oscar arrived safe. The hotel said it was impossible for Malin and I to catch a taxi at this hour, but fortunately Kristin had booked a room with two twin beds instead of a double, and we all slept there for the night, comforted in each others presence.

In the days since, all flights to/from Bombay have been cancelled, as have other various transportation. Malin, Kristin, Oscar and their other Swedish friends have had to change or cancel their travel plans. Some were taking the first flights out of the country, while some tried to find ways to continue on with their travels.

Arjun and my other friends in Bombay are all safe, most of them returning to Pune this weekend. The atmosphere in Bombay is still very intense. People are going to work and carrying on with their lives as best they can, but my friends living there are still very scared.

Thank you all for your love and concern - I couldn't be more grateful. One of the hardest aspects of this experience is to know how scared and concerned you all are, so let me please reassure you once again that all is safe and well in Pune.

For the first time in my traveling life, I came on this trip with as little planned as possible. I only had three objectives; to eat at Cafe Leopold's, visit my friends in Pune and relax in Goa - all accomplished. I'm in the fortunate position to wait and see how everything plays out until I leave India on December 7th for Australia. I feel very safe and comfortable in Pune, where I have good friends to keep me company, and Ed should be back in the US within hours. I will keep you all informed on my choices from here, as well as entertain you with Ed and I's crazy antics of the past, and of course, those yet to come for me.