A day after the serial blasts in Bangalore
My first post on Blogial, and something not so pleasant to begin with. Serial blasts rocked Bangalore yesterday, 25th July 2008. I was at my office working through my normal Friday routine and preparing to have a nice weekend when one of my colleagues came in and gave us this first-hand news about the blasts. However, We continued our work until we could see that the situation was kinda bad. A few mails popped in from our administrative division about changes in the evening shuttles. Our day was pretty much over at about 3 p.m. Everyone was on the phone trying to convince their loved ones that they were fine and there was nothing to worry about(I wonder what would have happened to us sitting there at the office).
I feel I’m an experienced customer to these situations, having faced the same situation two years ago when Mumbai was hit by the same kind of serial blasts in the suburban trains. Although I wasn’t around there at that time (was in Mangalore, studying), I had my family to worry about. And I understand that people here aren’t ready enough for such surprises. Well however, I was amazed to hear about the number of people who were ready to help after the Mumbai blasts. Mumbai has always come clean through these situations, life gets back on track asap.
I don’t know much about what happened yesterday. The blasts took place at the Madiwala bus depot, Mysore road, Adugudi, Koramangla, Vittal Mallaya road, Langford Town and Richmond Town. Two were killed and several were others injured. Tests were conducted that revealed the usage of ammonium nitrate in these bombs. Another bomb was found today near Forum Mall in the Koramangala area. The bomb was then defused by the National Bomb Detection Squad. The Forum Mall is one of the most busiest malls in Bangalore. Bangalore is obviously gripped with fear now and the security is on an all-time high. Today the Chief Minister of Karnataka said investigations were on track and asked people (including the IT sector) not to panic and to stay calm. Infosys, which has been a prime target for these terrorists has beefed up its security.
Most people are indoors this weekend (including me and my friends) as obvious destinations for hanging out were bombed yesterday. I feel people will get back on track starting next week, although the fear is here to stay once it has crept into Banglorean minds. The cops too seem to be freaked out by this surprise attack on once peaceful Bangalore. And the only way of fighting terror is spitting right in its face. Bangaloreans aren’t afraid of this and each one of us should bring out the same courage in the days to come.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Following the above there was again a serial blasts in Ahmedabad, India on 26th July, 2008. Nearly 17 blasts in 70 minutes.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Right buddy, even I thought of the same thing. What could have happened to us sitting inside the office which is far away from the city and crowd? And, for a few days to come, only a small proportion of the population will be seen hanging out at malls and crowdy meeting places in Bangalore.
These serial blasts make me feel that things are gonna get worser in the near future. All capital cities of states run by religious parties are being made targets. This may spark up communal outrages.
Praying for a better and safer tomorrow.