The siege is over, but the terror remains

The siege is over, but the terror remains
By Tami Abdollah
After a harrowing 42-hour lockdown in a Mumbai hotel room, Mission Viejo residents emerge to face their new lives -- fearful when the doorbell rings, afraid to be alone, wondering how they survived.
By Tami Abdollah
December 6, 2008
For Sarita Khilnani, it's the little things -- like the ring of her doorbell Wednesday night -- that suddenly fill her with fear and remind her of the 42 hours she spent locked in her room at Mumbai's Taj hotel.

Exactly one week earlier, terrorists had blasted their way into the hotel. When the doorbell rang at Room 363 that day, it was by a heavy hand, and followed by furious knocking.

It was 1 a.m. Friday, and Sarita, 32, and her mother, Mira, 62, stood at the door, their hands clasped. They dared not approach the peephole.

"Who is it?" they asked timidly, her mother speaking Hindi. But the voices had moved away and the two were left in silence.

Hours later, mother and daughter emerged from their room and entered the hallway. Room after room had its door broken in. Shards of glass littered the floor, and luggage was strewn about.


Today, Sarita Khilnani and her mother struggle to understand why the five rooms next to theirs were violently emptied, but theirs went untouched.
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