The last couple of days have been tense for Indians, especially those of us in the Southern part of India & the western state of Gujarat. First on Friday afternoon, I was at the office working, when I heard that there was an explosion in the city of Bangalore, Karnataka. Some turned on the tv that sits in our reception area, others tuned to their radios and some like me clicked online to find out if there was something about it. I was the first to find a webpage that reported on the incident, some guy named Sachin Uppal had seen the blast from a distance. He switched on his computer, logged into his blogger account download the island online and blogged about it immediately, snatching bits of news from his friends & neighbours. Turns out it was more than one – 6 blasts occurred in various parts of the city. The areas of Nayandahalli, Madivala, Adugodi, Mysore road, Mallya Hospital & Langford Road were the ones that were hit. A 6th & 7th explosion would follow.

My company has 3 big offices in Bangalore and I have a few friends who work in that city. We immediately tried to get in touch with them to see if they were alright. the phone lines were all blocked and the smses weren’t getting delivered. I was able to contact my friend Vinitha online – she was at home and on gtalk, having taken a leave from work. Another friend was in Cochin, having taken leave to come and visit her family.

Saturday, while Banglore began their slow process of recovering from the shock, the Gujarat serial Bomb blasts have rocked industrious Ahmedabad city of Gujarat in India. Till now 6 bomb blasts have been reported. The effected areas are Maninagar Chowk, Raipur, Bapunagar, Isanpur, Narol, Naroda, Juhapura. The 6 blasts later became 16, with 10 dead an over a 100 injured. An Islamic terrorist organization calling themselves the ‘Indian Mujahidden’ have claimed sole responsibility for the bomb blasts. All major cities were now told be be on alert as they could be next. And today in Surat (Gujarat) two cars with batteries & wires in the back seat were found abandoned.

This afternoon, an internet call was made to the number of a TV9 reporter, claiming to be from Pakistan and identifying him to be part of the Indian Mujahideen, said that Kerala was the next target and that it would happen at 7 in the evening. This information was soon replayed to all channels with the major cities of Cochin & Trivandrum on high alert. All cinema theatres have cancelled their evening shows and most stores & shopping malls have shut down. Police have surrounded most of the public areas and are combing through any areas that look like they could be harbouring detonating devices. Police dogs & bomb squads are everywhere. The police commissioner has asked for calm and for all citizens to be on the look out for anything suspicious.

As I type this, its a few minutes past 8 pm and so far nothing has happened in Cochin. That doesn’t mean to say that it won’t. This just brings to believe that Muslim fundamentalists are out to destroy the rest of the world and that religion and god will be the end of us. Hope to see a new day. Peace.

Note: I want everyone who reads this to please, please add your comment here, especially if you are an Indian.

Just a day after the multiple bomb blasts in Bangalore, the western city of Ahmedabad has been rocked by a series of explosions, killing atleast 29 and injuring over 100 people.
A little-known Islamist group calling itself the “Indian Mujahedeen” has reportedly claimed responsibility. More than 16 blasts hit residential areas, hospitals, crowded markets, a train station and a bus. Two of the 16 bombs targeted emergency hospitals trying to deal with the victims, many of them hit by flying nuts, bolts and ball bearings packed into the bombs. Officials say the bombs were detonated with timer devices and all exploded within the space of 36 minutes.

Many of the bigger cities across the country, including mine, have been put on a state of alert.