The Siege: The Attack on the Taj

** spoiler alert ** This book is a horrifying true tale of what happened in Mumbai on that dreadful 26th of November,2008. The book told me what I already knew. The corruption, the bumbling bureaucracy, the ineptitude that besieges politics and governance. What this book does tell me what I did not know was in graphic detail of how it paralyzed Mumbai that night. Reading of how long it took for the Black Cats to reach and rescue the day, how the hotels ignored advice given, how India ignored the warnings of the naval attack, how US allowed a terrorist double agent to continue operating because of the information he passed in return,how politicians choose to wash over the entire episode was horrible. The simple acts of courage of the chefs of Taj,the marine guest, a doctor guest, the waiters at Taj and of the police force trapped inside are heartening. Disheartening is how media's soundbites and peoples' live updates to their friends and family on twitter/facebook/ photos/calls lead to not just the handlers' knowing what was happening and giving the feedback and further action plans to the terrorists but also the terrorists inside hearing where people were to gun them down. Terrible ...terrible.. terrible.. how cheap to us human life is.

While I praise the book for the detail it gets into, the book also appears quite biased. It sullies the characters of people who are too dead to defend it. It joins the bandwagon of blame and quotes people who may project the instances that happened the way they would like the world to see it.

On the whole, well written, reasonably well investigated account.