K R Ramamoorthy, chairman of ING Vysya Bank, had a phenomenal escape during the recent terror attack at the Taj. He recalls coming face to face with a terrorist who asked him his name. "At first, I didn't reveal my identity. I just told the terrorist that I was a teacher from Bangalore," said Ramamoorthy.

"On hearing this, the terrorist hit me with a rope, saying how can a teacher stay at the Taj? I then gave him my true identity," he said. This whole scenario shocked him so much that he was unable to comprehend what was going on there.

Human shield

"The terrorists took me and a few members of the hotel staff as a human shield from the 6th floor to the 5th floor. They dumped us in a room and asked us to kneel. At one point of time, I felt like they were going to shoot us. But soon, there was a blast adjoining the room and smoke filled inside. I managed to escape when I ran down to the third floor from where I was rescued by fire brigade personnel," says Ramamoorthy.
The terrorists used the chairman's room as a command centre. In his encounter with the terrorists what Ramamoorthy noticed was how ruthless they were. "The terrorists were brutal; they tied me and beat me up.

They forcibly took us to the fifth floor and then two terrorists entered and assaulted us even more. I could see immorality in their eyes."

He said, "I'm reminded of this incident every time I go to sleep. It keeps playing in my mind all the time."

Doctorspeak

"It's natural to feel traumatised," says psychiatrist Dr M J Thomas. The feelings of terror and fear will last until they let it go," he said.

"The returnees have displayed symptoms of trauma common to those who have been through a wartime situation: anxiety, trembling, nightmares and jumping at the slightest sounds. To get rid of this, all that one needs to do is shut one's mind and take good rest," he added.