Holiday Bombings

The scenes have been eerily familiar: the news consumed with images of people running and crying, my mobile not working, family and friends trying to get through any way they can to check on me.

Three bomb blasts shook Delhi today, killing at least 50 people on the eve of the Hindu festival of Diwali. I had planned to do some holiday shopping of my own today, but most markets are shut down and people have been warned to stay home.

I was a reporter in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, and people's gut reactions in times like this are really universal. Binny (my husband's cousin) asked his daughter Pranati -- out with friends for a Diwali fair -- to come right home. My uncle, unable to get through on my mobile, called Namrata, Binny's wife, to make sure I was safe.

To make matters scarier, fireworks and firecrackers are going off every few seconds across Delhi -- across India, really -- this weekend to celebrate the holiday. 

Unlike 9/11, when I jumped out of a dentist's chair and ran out the door with my notebook to report, I am readying myself for a Diwali party tonight hosted by my husband's cousin. I will try to report back when I have a better sense of what it's like out there.

By S. Mitra Kalita |  October 29, 2005; 12:35 PM ET  | Category:  In Delhi
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