“I checked into room number 1781 of Oberoi at 9.35 pm. At 9.40 pm, I heard what sounded like fire crackers from the lobby. I opened my door and smoke had engulfed the hallway and was filling my room through the AC ducts,” recounts Gupta, a resident of Pitampura, who returned to Delhi Friday night, after surviving the hostage drama.

“I broke open the large window pane of my room and stepped out to the stone ledge overlooking the street below. I sat there for 20 minutes until the smoke cleared,” he adds, convinced by now that it was a terrorist attack. His fears were confirmed when relatives informed him of the news on his BlackBerry.

After recovering from the initial shock, Gupta stayed put in his room. Common sense prevented him from using the emergency exits as he felt the terrorists were roaming freely in the building. After midnight, when gunshots began and the lights went out, his only companion was a BlackBerry that gave him updates.

Relief came when he heard news of ‘200 NSG commandos landing in Mumbai’. “At 9. 30 am there was a knock on my door and three armed men in black suits asked me to open up. It was unnerving — I wasn’t sure if they were terrorists or commandos. I asked them to prove their identity. But they threatened to break in and I had no defence,” he laughs. The men frisked him and his belongings before identifying themselves as the NSG. Gupta knew he was safe, but his ordeal wasn’t ending soon. The commandos left the room only to return in short intervals for water and food.

By Friday morning, the cable had been cut off, water and food was over, and his BlackBerry was low on battery. It was dark and lonely. But Gupta penned out a check list to keep himself calm. His only nutrition came from sipping beer cans stored in the fridge. “I needed to re-hydrate or I would pass out.” At 1.30 pm on Friday the siege ended. Commandos escorted him along with seven other hostages to the Air India building. “I understood then what freedom meant. Being able to see the sky and breathing fresh air. It was a relief that my 42-hour ordeal was over.”