One of the images that will live for ever in my memory is that of dome of “The Taj” in Mumbai burning for well over sixty hours in that fateful late November. One year has gone by since that nightmare played itself on television screens across the world. One year passed by, but still those memories linger fresh in memory, as if they occurred just a few days back. Such was the sequence of events that it would remain etched in the hearts and minds of every Indian.

This week we commemorated the first anniversary of that dastardly attack on Mumbai – rather India. I would call that attack more an attack on India than an attack on Mumbai. Mumbai for me represents everything that India is. Clearly the most cosmopolitan of Indian cities, it represents the India that is rapidly growing full of opportunities, the India which is a growing world power, the India which is absolutely diverse, the India where there is a sharp discrepancy between the rich and the poor, the India where the collective soul of the nation erupts in joy in moments of triumph and burst out in tears in moments of disaster. These attacks essentially were an attack on what I would call the “Concept of India”. It was important as a nation for us triumphs over this moment of attack on the nation, and triumph we did – all be it that it took well over 60 hours to defeat those ten terrorists.

It’s an accepted fact that the nation’s intelligence forces failed in acting properly to the leads, which eventually resulted in that horrific incident. Lots of analysis has happened on this, and for sure it would happen in the future as well. But what is important is that even if it was a few days, the nation stood as one, prayed for the fallen and the hostages, hated the attackers, and hoped for an early resolution. Someone once said – there are only two things that connect the soul of whole of India – cricket and an attack on the nation. It was clearly evident during this incident.

I still remember that night. There was India vs England ODI that night, and I was watching the game along with AR at his place. India was on route to a 5-0 win in that seven match series, and we were delighted about it. Once the match got over, it was time for the analysis. The ardent cricket fan that I am, I watch the post match analysis as well when India wins. That’s one aspect of mine that AR hates, and realizing that there isn’t much of a hope waiting for me, he went ahead doing his work. During one of the commercial breaks of the review program, I was channel browsing, I reached a news channel that was giving some breaking news. Breaking news at 10 in the night is always important; hence I started following it. They were reporting of some shooting that is happening at the Taj in Mumbai, and was suspecting a gang war. I decided to follow it for a couple more minutes till the match analysis resumes after the commercial break, and then was the next breaking news – there are reports of multiple shootings across Mumbai, and the channel folks were calling it a terrorist attack rather than some gang wars of the Mumbai underworld.

That literally brought a chill to spine; and even now it’s a terrible feeling thinking about it. AR came back to watch TV, and we were silently watching terror unfolding itself right in front of our eyes on TV. I don’t exactly remember if we talked at all while watching that. To be honest, we were shocked. It took us some while for us to come to terms with the gravity of the situation. There was anger; there was sorrow; and there was hatred towards the people who were doing this. We had friends in Mumbai; I was worried about their safety. Tried calling them, but by then all the telephone lines were overloaded with anxious people calling their near and dear ones. A silent prayer for their safety, and we were back to watching the terror live on TV. We went on watching the same all night; sadly it was showing no signs of ending. We saw confusion, pandemonium, over enthusiastic journalists, despair, hope, distraught and elation – all happening simultaneously.

Sadly the wait for the sequence of events to end went on for well over two days; so did the agony and the anger. Lots of questions are to be answered by lots of people responsible for ensuring that this sort of incident never occurs. In all the gloom and doom that engrossed the nation as this sequence of events unfolded itself, there were moments of bravery that should never be forgotten - the brave cops of Mumbai, the commandos of NSG who fought the terrorists, the common man who came out to help a co-Mumbaikar in need, the railway station announcers who saved lives of hundreds at the CST braving the bullets, the firemen who didn’t hesitate to get into the flames, the nanny who risked her life to save a baby boy, and lots of others… They all represented the collective will of the nation, willing to sacrifice anything to reclaim our nation – which we momentarily lost to these proponents of terror. For us as a nation, we have lots of short comings. There are more things wrong about this system than what is right. It’s a young nation, and it needs to be given some time for it to grow. But one thing that is there for sure is unflinching love and affection for our country; our belief in the concept of India.

There is one face that I would never forget - that of baby Moshe coming out alive from the Jewish Chabad in Nariman House – wrapped in the arms of his nanny Sandra Samuel, whose bravery was unparallel. The tears that was there in his eyes when he came out of the building represented the tears that this nation had remembering those who lost their lives in this attack. The sunshine smile that he had once he realized that things are safe represents the hope that we Indians have in our futures. Even in times of despair, we never loose hope. Probably this is what they call as “spirit”. Let that hope which that there in that innocent smile of Moshe, drive us in this war against these tyrants who use terror as a weapon; because this is a war which we cant afford to loose…