Seated in my Nariman Point office when I first heard the gunshots, I grabbed my camera and stepped out. I rushed in the direction of Leopold Cafe; that's where the noise had come from.
Escaping death: The cops and I were caught in a crossfire on the third floor of the Taj. CCTV Grabu00a0
Taj - Vasant Prabhu
Special Photographer, Indian Express
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In the lane behind Taj, I saw two khaki-clad men sprinting into the hotel. I recognised one of them, it was DCP Zone 1 Vishwas Nagre-Patil.
I followed the duo and soon found myself on the third floor of the hotel caught in the crossfire.
Dodging bullets, weu00a0 entered Shamiana only to stumble upon mangled bodies. I started clicking pictures, but minutes later realised I was standing alone.
The cops had left and now the silence was eerie. I ran into a room nearby and was relieved to see guests hiding there. For hours, we sat motionless till cops came to our rescue.
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A year later
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Prabhu continues to work at the Indian Express his 17th year at the newspaper. From the 1992-93 riots to the train blasts in 2006, he's seen it all.
But nothing affected him like this fateful night. His close shave with terror earned him accolades. He was interviewed by the New York Times and won awards for the photographs. But life has not changed significantly.
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