Waking Up To Horror

I woke up to horrifying news of a terror attack in Mumbai.Some people need photos or videos to make a scene come alive, vivid, real.

Not me. I just need to close my eyes.

Instantly, my mind replays a terrible sequence of images of the most traumatic and stressful experience of my entire medical career, maybe even my life.

Nightmare remembrances of a summer afternoon in 1993 when as chief resident in surgery at St.George hospital in Mumbai, we were summoned to the casualty… to be confronted with a sight that was scary, pitiable and deeply sorrowing.

Wounded, bleeding humanity, en masse.

A splinter bomb had exploded at the crowded Mumbai Stock Exchange, killing dozens and seriously maiming and wounding hundreds. For the next 20 hours, with barely 10 minutes off to grab a bite, we were busy in the O.R.

Even today, 15 years later, the thought of that day brings tears to my eyes.

And so the shock is many times more to see history repeating itself, and a cowardly act of terror being thrust on a helpless, innocent populace who know not who their ‘enemies’ were, nor what they had done to deserve such hurt.

My heart goes out to everyone affected by the tragedy. I know how painful it is, because I’ve lived through it before. This time, all I can do is hope and pray. I will do that – with all my heart.