[India 911] Thank You!

It's not easy to start blogging & writing in this kind of situation. Different feelings come and mix together in my heart, in my mind. The Christmas songs have been played already in our house everyday from morning until night. My heart has liquified into December season and has flown following the rhythm of the everlast songs. But suddenly the 'Mumbai Terrorist Attacks' happened. Lots of innocent people lost their lives.
MP#44: Mumbai Attacks, India 9/11
I really need to say Thank You to all of you, friends, for your cares. Thank you for your email, sms, calls and all messages in this blog or my other blog. I really appreciate that. It's so nice to know that lots of people care about us. Many of them, we have never met. Just to let you know, our family is fine. Both my kids are enjoying their extended school holiday. Yesterday, they were supposed to have a half day school and celebrating Thanksgiving Day with their friends and teacher. After the 'Mumbai Attacks' which started on Wednesday night, the school was closed on Thursday. So, they have four days holidays until Sunday.

Until now, we never know what will be happen next.
Wednesday morning (26/11/2008), I decided to do a photo hunting around a place called Byculla in South Mumbai. I printed out some information about Byculla from the internet, grab it, and read it on the way to Byculla. There are lots of interesting places there. First, I visited the beautiful old Gloria Church and met some students of the nearby school that located in the Church area.

GloriaChurch2

Gloria Church, Mumbai

Gloria Church, Mumbai

Antonio Desouza High School

Then I visited the old Regal Cinema, Regal Shop (just across the street), and Byculla Market (the largest vegetable market in Mumbai! Owesome...).

Old Cinema

The Famous Byculla Market

Effective Shopping

I continued my journey, walking to the Mumbai Fire Brigade Headquarter. Woow, they have a vintage fire engine. Cute! Unfortunatelly they did not allow me to taking picture there. Right, for security reason. What a paranoid... (psst, don't you know that I was trained-by experiences-to be a paparazzi?, yeah I took some picture there :P). I'll upload the picture later. I promise.
The oldest fly-overs built in Mumbai.
The oldest fly-overs built in Mumbai. Byculla is also known for Mumbai's first ever "Y-bridge" built across Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road which then splits further to go to Byculla East and West before the Clare Road intersection, thereby forming a Y shape when seen from the air. This was one of the oldest fly-overs built in Mumbai.
It was quite hot that afternoon (and I forgot my cap, silly me), but I could not help myself not to visit to Magen David Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the city. Uh yeah, this is my very first time visiting a Jewish Temple. I came back home with lots of pictures in my camera. I was so happy.

Magen David SynagogueMagen David Synagogue

Magen David Synagogue

After that, the rest of the day passed by just like the other normal day. Until I went to bed, I didn't know that on the night something terrible was happening out there, in South Mumbai.
Lots of sms came to my husband's handphone that night (please read the blog story written by him) and only one came to mine. It was from the school, announcing that the school will be closed on the next day. No other information, we didn't have any clue. Very early morning we woke up, and found out that there had been a big terror in this city. I was speechless, from the TV screen, to see one beautiful landmark building was on fire. So sad. I love the Mumbai Architecture, I read a lot about their history, and I admire them. The Taj Mahal Hotel, that we visited 3 weeks after we arrived on last January, is the one that made me falling in love to this city. Nothing I could do, just watching the blaze and smoke. Lots of bodies were found inside the hotel. The terrors occured in 10 different places that night, some places are still on terror until now including in the Taj Hotel.
Beauty Of Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai
The Beautiful Detail of Taj Mahal Hotel. I took this pictures on January 2008.
Reading the newspaper for the last two mornings make me a bit down. It's so sad that many people suddenly have lost their family members, relatives, friends. Not fair! Until now there are 155 people killed, 327 people wounded. On the other side, I'm so glad watching some of the hostages were walking free out from the hotels. I'm not a person who can talk a lot about terrorism, but regarding this Mumbai Terror, I have to be honest that I'm amazed; how organized and how well prepared the terrorists turning this city up-side down.
During this quiet time, we just spend our time at home together. To kill the boring time, we go outside to the park, supermarket, bookshop nearby our apartment. I didn't cook something special, not for the Thanksgiving. There is no special dinner. I just baked Banana Bread this afternoon, with some chocolate chips and walnuts. Nothing special.
BananaBread

Everything just like other day, and we'll never forget to thank God for His Blessing.
------------------------------------I've just pressed 'publish post' button, then I check my mailbox... ooooh tragic news! Both parents of Patricks friend 'R' were killed in the recent terrorist attacks. We met them all (both parents with 3 kids, 'R' is the youngest one) on our vacation in Amber Fort, Jaipur last month. I'm very sad.

Comments

sefa firdaus said…
sedih ya baca beritanya :(
semoga semuanya cepat berlalu.. senangnya elo dan keluarga baik-baik
Dwiana P said…
When I hear about this news I was thinking about you and Ira too. I haven't heard from her either.
Glad that everyone is okay Van.

Hopefully suasana disana bisa terkendali yah. my though and prayer for you and all people there.
Anonymous said…
Hi Vania, I heard about the Mumbai killing. I am glad to know your family is well and safe. Recently I read one Singaporean was killed in one of the hotel. It was a shocking news since my husband is a Singaporean. Hope this trouble will pass soon. Stay safe.
Unknown said…
Vania, sedih denger beritanya. I'm glad that you and your family are ok. Stay safe.
Nisa-mom said…
ikut prihatin dengan situasi disana ya mba, tapi sekali lagi bersyukur semua masih dalam lindungan NYA.

Semoga segera membaik kembali situasi di Mumbai
Foni said…
lets pray together for mumbai van,
tp gue seneng lo sekeluarga safe.
disni tiap hari gue pantau bout mumbai dari cnn, benar2 tak habis pikir,
and cant imagine life of patrick´s friend without their parents.
trully tragic...very unacceptable
ntah ya gue kyknya prihatin sekali dengan keadaan ini. sedih..
~s h i n t a~ said…
mbak Van, glad to hear you and family are OK. Kemarin dikabarin hubby sempet kaget bgt, but ga bisa lgs check the net. Lega ama updatenya... Turut berduka atas apa yang terjadi di Mumbai dan mendoakan agar semuanya dalam lindungan Tuhan, semoga kejadian ini cepat berakhir dan tidak terulang kembali.
molen said…
mbak vania gimana disana?baik aja khan....aku liat beritanya dimetro,serem banget yach,masalahnya kenapa sich?bisa terjadi teror,semoga keadaan disana membaik
Untung semua baik-baik ajah yah mbak...Thanks GOD..bener-bener cerita yg mendebarkan..aku lihat di berita juga miris dan ngeri ajah...hiks
Epilicious said…
Waktu liat ini berita di detiknews aku langsung kepikiran kuarga mba vania. I'm glad to hear you and your family are okay. Sadis banget itu orang2 ya... kasihan, korban2nya orang gak bersalah. May God bless you all....
Rita Sella said…
thanks god kamu baek-baek aza, biarpun diluaran masih bahaya.
Semoga tuhan melindungi kamu sekeluarga.. semoga cepet berlalu...
Vania said…
Sefa, Dwiana, Manyaro, Mindy, Fitri, Foni, Shinta, Ellen, Ipoet, Epoy, Rita...
makasih banyak atas perhatiannya. Keadaan di sini udah jauh lebih baik. Anak2 dah mulai sekolah hari ini (Senin, Dec 1). Bbrp hari terakhir mereka byk nanya2 masalah kejadian ini, repot jg jawabnya :)

Ellen, kalo ditanya kenapa terror ini bisa sampai terjadi, agak sudah jawabnya. Karena sangat sulit mengerti cara berpikir orang2 yg sudah kehilangan akal sehat dan hatinya dipenuhi kebencian.

Sekali lagi, makasih banyak.
Unknown said…
I did not know if you live in Mumbai. I would be feeling the same if I knew. I do now. I hope you are all alright. Hugs.
Anonymous said…
Mbak Vania, ya ampun ya ampun.. Telat banged aku denger beritanya, ikut prihatin dengan keadaan di India ya, mbak.. Syukurlah jika mbak Vania sekeluarga baik-baik aja..
Suevph said…
Thank God you are Fine. Take care my friend! God Bless.
Dwiana P said…
Vania, Merry Christmas yah. Lagi mudik yah? happy mudik and jgn lupa makan bakso yg banyak hahaha.

di update donk neng blog nya, miss your posts loh.

cheers,
Dwi
Anonymous said…
The cinema is Palace theatre not Regal. Albeit the Irani restaurant attached (not across the road) is called Regal Restaurant. The other Irani restaurant across the road is the one named Byculla restaurant.