Refusing to Live in Fear

As you've all heard by now, Mumbai was under terrorist attack for three days last week. I was in downtown Colaba - the center for all the attacks. In fact, the restaurant my friends and I were eating at was only a block away from Leopold's Cafe - the site of one of the shootings. Additionally, the Taj Hotel and Gateway of India were only two blocks away. There was much confusion inside the restaurant as the owners locked us inside for our safety. We received information in pieces from people watching the news on the outside. We all thought it was a street fight between locals, but then learned that it was an organized attack on the city. I was stuck downtown for two days as there were no reliable means of tranportation and for safety sake, I was instructed to stay put and indoors.

The media is calling this attack "India's 9/11" and I believe that my experiences in 9/11 were not just for me...but for the people here. I hope that I'll be able to comfort the people of this city and bring the hope and peace that can only come from God alone. Mumbai is a resilient city and from what I can see most people are going about life as usual. I believe that most of the trauma is from those in downtown who witnessed it all. Similar to in NYC, there's a sense of fear and anxiety looming about. But many are refusing to live in fear. I pray for God's mercy and peace to fall upon this city and to heal the hearts of the people.