[Reader-list] First-person Account of Delhi Blast

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Srirang and Shweta

Many thanks for sharing your experience with us on the list.
  I am sure that all list members will join me in wishing you and  
your daughter Khushi a speedy recovery from this terrible and  
traumatic experience. Your account underlines yet again the utter  
pointlessness and perversity of all forms of terrorism, regardless of  
whether it is unleashed by people within or without the state apparatus.

We spend a lot of time debating and discussing all sorts of issues on  
this list, but situations like what you describe compel us all to  
realize that ultimately these matters that we discuss do boil down to  
questions of life, death, pain, fear, confidence  and safety for all  
of us at deeply personal levels. I hope we never lose sight of that  
fact, and I would like to thank you for reminding us, that in the  
end, we are fragile, easily broken bodies, and that whatever we may  
hold on to in terms of our ideas, convictions and ideologies must  
ultimately be measured against the violence that is done, way to  
easily, to fragile, easily broken bodies.

I was very touched by your account of the anonymous stranger who  
helped reach you both and your child to RML Hospital. This anonymity,  
that does not ask for a person's name, or identity, that sees an  
injury as an injury, and not in terms of whether that injury can be  
weighed against some easily deployed identity is the kind of  
solidarity that all of us need in times like this. I hope we all find  
our own anoymous strangers in times of need.

Thank you again, for showing us that this city that so many of us  
live in is as capable of sudden generosity and kindness as it is of  
terror

warm regards,

Shuddha










On 17-Sep-08, at 6:32 PM, srirang jha wrote:

> *First-person Account of Delhi Blast*
>
> Our Extended Family in Delhi
>
> By Shweta & Srirang Jha
>
> We do not have any kith and kin in Delhi. So we were always  
> concerned about
> who would come to our help in case of any crisis. But all our  
> apprehensions
> went wrong when we were hit by the bomb blast at Central Park on 13
> September 2008. We reached Connaught Place around 5:30 PM that day.  
> First we
> went to Shree Leathers showroom near Regal Cinema. It was crowded with
> frenzied weekend shoppers. There was no security check at the  
> entrance. So
> both of us thought what if a bomb explodes in the showroom. This  
> thought
> made us restless. So we hurriedly came out of the showroom. As our  
> six year
> old daughter Khushi is very fond of strawberry ice-cream, we went  
> to Mc
> Donald's to get a scoop for her. We ate burgers outside the  
> restaurant. Then
> we moved towards the Central Park where Khushi loves to play.  
> Instead of
> crossing the road from Palika Bazar to Central Park, we used the Metro
> Sub-way.
>
> We had walked merely a few metres inside the Central Park when we  
> heard a
> loud sound. We thought, it may be a gun shot, which was actually  
> the sound
> of the bomb blast at Barakhambha Road. As we turned behind to  
> figure out
> what had happened, there was the second blast. We started running  
> towards
> the other end of the Central Park. At the same time we were worried  
> about a
> possible blast at the other end of the Central Park. Somehow, we  
> reached the
> road and started shouting for help. Both of us were profusely  
> bleeding. We
> tried to call police help line for help. But the gentleman just  
> disconnected
> the phone after hearing about the bomb blast. As we wanted to reach  
> RML
> Hospital at the earliest, we requested the passersby to arrange any  
> vehicle.
> A police constable standing there managed to stop an auto rickshaw.
>
> Suddenly an Indica stopped there and a young man pulled us into his  
> car
> saying it would be too late if we take the auto rickshaw. He  
> dropped us at
> the hospital in half an hour despite heavy traffic jam. He also  
> informed us
> that there was another blast in Gaffar Market. Knowing fully well, the
> imminent risk ahead, he decided to help us reach the hospital. We  
> were in
> such a bad condition that we could not ask his name or say thanks  
> to him. He
> dropped us at the Trauma Centre of RML Hospital and disappeared in the
> crowd.  Had he not helped us, our condition would have worsened due to
> profuse bleeding.
>
> Inside the trauma centre, the scene was terrible. Many people were  
> brought
> dead. Many others were severely hit. There was total chaos. Yet the  
> doctors,
> nurses and other staff were working like soldiers and reaching out  
> to all
> with first aid and, of course, a healing touch. So we felt a sigh  
> of relief.
> Now we were assured that we have survived. We stayed in the trauma  
> centre
> for around half an hour. There was immense pain and suffering. A  
> senior
> doctor told us to take Khushi outside the trauma centre. When we  
> told that
> both of us were injured, she told our daughter to sit on the  
> stretcher. The
> doctor was worried about psychological impact our daughter might  
> have after
> seeing suffering, pain and death. Anyway, soon we were shifted to the
> emergency ward.
>
> We could call only one of our colleagues, Ajay Chauhan before the  
> cell phone
> traffic was jammed. He, in turn, informed Prof Alok Saklani,  
> Director of
> Apeejay School of Management, where both of us teach.  He reached the
> hospital in an hour. Prof Akshey Kumar, a senior colleague reached  
> soon
> after we were shifted to emergency ward. Kunal Khurana, one of our  
> students,
> saw us on the television and rushed to the hospital for our help.  
> That was
> very touching. While we had expected our colleagues to arrive, Kunal's
> gesture was quite soul-stirring. He was there till midnight when we  
> were
> discharged from the hospital. Our friend Shubhankar wanted to come  
> to the
> emergency ward but the security personnel were not allowing anyone  
> inside
> the premises of RML Hospital. We were discharded from the hospital  
> in the
> midnight. While we returned home with Kunal, Ranjani took care of our
> daughter.
>
> On the second day, many of our colleagues came forward to help us.  
> All our
> students visited us with bouquets and good wishes for early  
> recovery. Even
> our plumber, washer-man, kabariwala, kiranawala and many others  
> came forward
> to extend their good wishes. We started receiving calls from our  
> old friends
> who had slipped out of touch. It was nice receiving calls from  
> Ranvijay,
> Sanat, Chetnanad, Nasiha, Firoz, Jaevd and many others. Our  
> neighbours were
> always there for help. So before our parents reached out to us, we got
> incredible support from our extended family in Delhi.
>
> The extended family all-embracing healing touch to many others on that
> fateful day. Hence so many lives could be saved. Probably that is  
> the spirit
> of Delhi which attracts people from all over the country.
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Srirang K Jha, Ph D
> Assistant Professor,
> Apeejay School of Management
> Dwarka, Sector 8
> New Delhi 110075
> Ph. 011-32646005
> Cell. 09958336918
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net