Bangalore Blasts
Returning to office at 1.30PM, I saw a couple of guys running around telling everyone that two bombs had gone off in the city. My initials reaction was to dismiss it as a rumour. Bombs? In Bangalore? No way! Bomb attacks happened only in big cities!…
Wait… Bangalore is a BIG city…
Next step was to take NDTV.com and sure enough there was News Flash reporting 2 blasts. Hitting the Refresh button increased the count to 5! That’s when I felt a li’l cold… Then, guys from all corners shouting 6 and 7! Some crowded in a cubicle to watch a webcast. One guy called up his wife who put the phone near the TV. This guy switched on the speakerphone for the rest of us to get informed (and worried).
Soon enough, our manager Tulsi called out everyone to one central location on the floor. When the crowd gathered around him, he made a brave attempt at climbing on top of a shelf so as to address everyone. He slipped at the first attempt but managed to defy the age in his second attempt. His words were:
“There have been reports of several mild explosions in Bangalore. In times like this, there will always be several rumours and exaggerated numbers floating around. Our initial reaction is to rush to our homes but it is advisable to stay at the office itself. Security has contacted Karnataka government and we’ll be getting a confirmed report of the situation at 5.30PM. Till then, go to your desks, continue your normal work and don’t panic.”
And then it was business as usual.
At the end of the day, there were 8 blasts that occurred in the city. Some weren’t far from our office.
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