Only eight months ago, Los Angeles citizen Dr Patricia Scott remembers campaigning for President-elect Barack Obama, in all earnestness. Naturally, it was a traumatic moment for her when she was told to conceal her nationality to save her life, on Wednesday.
“They asked us to say we are Italians,” she said, “We were told the terrorists were persecuting US and British citizens. We are proud to be Americans, and it was a tough to lie about our nationality. But we had no choice.”
Patricia and her husband Dr Bruce Scott, who were visiting India for a vacation, had checked into a 17th floor sea-facing suite at the Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai, on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, as the hotel was seized by militants, the couple locked themselves in their suite for two days — with no food, no recreation, and just little water — till they were rescued by NSG commandos on Thursday.
“Barricaded in the room, our only consolation was that we never came face to face with the terrorists. But we heard constant gunshots and grenade explosions all around us. Thankfully, our temporary domestic cellphone was a constant companion, with which we kept in touch with our travel agency,” remembered Bruce as he talked to The Indian Express, on his way out of the city.
Over two days, the couple’s only hope was each other. “We held each others, cheered each other and fought with each other,” they said.
Thursday night, around 10 pm, NSG commandos rescued the couple, along with other tourists and brought them to safety. Still reeling under the impact, Patricia said: “Among the released was an Australian, a Japanese, a South African and some other American nationals. We all held hands as the commandos brought us out of the hotel.”
She expressed amazement at the NSG’s flush-out operation. “We want to thank the commandos for the way they managed the rescue with such great care.”
Free finally, the Scotts are now heaving a sigh of relief even as their sense of humour seemed to return.
“Communicating with us on our cellphone, the hotel staff instructed to tell anyone who asked that we were Italians. Stuck in our room, I even practised Italian accent,” Bruce laughed. A more emotional Patricia betrayed their actual state of mind. “As the commandos brought us down the stairs, we saw the blood soaked carpets, and the thought passed our minds that many people had not been as lucky as we were. They had just died here a few hours ago.”
Despite their ordeal, the Scotts are not willing to let the terrorists win. “We won't allow the terrorists to have the last laugh,” a resolute Bruce said, “That's exactly what terrorists want — to fill our hearts with fear. We won’t let them win so easily. Instead, we will continue our journey through India and enjoy our stay here as we planned,” said Bruce.
Even as this paper goes to print, the Scotts would have set foot in the exotic Udaipur, trying hard to bury terrible memories of their Mumbai stay in the royal luxury of a new hotel. “Not just Mumbai or India, even the world hasn’t experienced a gruesome attack of such a sort ever before. But all we want to do is get on with life now,” Bruce said. We wished the brave Scotts a happy journey.