I was lucky (unlike many others) yesterday night when we had the terrorists assault at Mumbai Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus Railway Station. In fact mine was the last local train to leave CST....as the later ones were halted after the Red Alert.
It happened so that I have being doing rounds of Dockyard (also under attack) since I have returned from survey at Mumbai High on 24th.Yesterday morning we three survey engineers went to dockyard to demobilize the survey equipment's only to be informed that the Survey vessel didn't got berth (parking space).
The vessel came to jetty today 4 P.M. We were late to leave office & reached the Masjid station near Dockyard Yellow gate at 6.30 P.M. It was another 30 minutes walk (as no taxi driver was willing to drive us so late) in the dockyard. On board we found the Chief (Crane operator) gone ashore for a hair cut. We decided to return & come back next early morning but the captain wished the transducers to be lifted in as they could bang against the jetty. We waited for the Chief.
I had my dinner while watching cricket. India leading makes cricket exciting. Another one hour wait & the Chief was back. Finally at 9.05 we called it a day & walked up to Green gate (Near CST). The operator at the water barrage in the dock let us walk over before pulling up the walk way or we would had to take a long walk. Out of the Dockyard Green gate we decided to take a taxi although CST is a walking distance. The local taxi drivers were unwilling to drop us to CST, luckily a taxi passing by offered lift. At CST there was a heavy crowd & long ques for local ticket. Fortunately one of us had a railway card. so we were spared the time to stand in the que.
All these incidents cumulated to our timely arrival to CST & departure thereby. My ticket printed the time 21.33. I bid goodbye to the two colleagues at platform no. 4 for Central line while I walked up to Platform no.2 for a Harbor line local.
My train left at 9.46 P.M. I got a seat (a luxury in locals) &that was why we had come to board train at CST (The originating stop) and not Masjid. Soon the old man next to me received a call from one of his office colleague who got late to catch this train. He said a gang war (Terrorists were traditionally associated with bombs & not guns) had broken out in CST station.
Had the operator at water barrage not waited for us & pulled the walk way before we crossed over, had the passing by taxi not agreed to offer us a ride, or a colleague may not had the railway card we would had landed to the CST Railway station along with Kasab & his shooting party ....
Sometime destiny gets you so close...! The rest as you know is news.
