Run! Run!! Bomb scare!! These words caught mine and my husband’s attention on Saturday. Shopping peacefully and enjoying every moment of it at Lajpat Nagar market, we were totally unaware of the serial bomb blasts in Delhi. My hubby looked for the trail of the voice and mumbled something against people spreading unnecessary rumours, thereby causing panic in the hearts of innocent people.

He caught my hand and drove me into the nearby Westside showroom. Once inside the showroom, we forgot all about the bomb scare. Beep! Beep! My mobile showed a new message on the screen exactly two minutes after. One of my dearest friends had messaged me about the bomb blast in Karol Bagh. She was just two turns away from the bombed area in Karol Bagh. This was too much to ignore. I looked for my husband who was looking in the shirts section and trying to decide between a green or red coloured shirt (Phew!! Guys! They can never know the art of shopping). The moment, I took the first few steps towards him, my phone rang. This time, it was my father, who was calling to tell us about the bombs.

On getting his call, I panicked and told my husband to leave everything and go home. Though my husband was least interested in running away from the situation, he agreed to do so, on seeing my fear filled eyes. As luck would have it, we were not even having our car, which meant that we had to take an auto rickshaw for reaching home. We were trying very hard to find one, when I remembered that my father-in-law was talking of going to meet a friend and he usually goes to Connaught place for such purposes. Fear gripped my mind again and forgetting to look for an auto, I took my cell phone and tried calling my father-in-law.

The network of the mobile went down at the same time and all my attempts of reaching him went futile. Was everything fine? Why has the mobile network been jammed. I was angry at the police, the administrative powers, the terrorists and the mobile phone at the same time. But what to do? Stranded in the crowded market place with no means of conveyance and a fear in the heart that this could be the next place for bomb blast, with all failed attempts of contacting my father-in-law, I was no more than a helpless birdie, caught in the pinjara of terrorism.

Somehow, we got a rickshaw, which agreed to drop us at the bus stop outside the market. A ray of hope atleast! On reaching the bus stop, we saw a huge crowd trying to get an autorickshaw. After all, every one wanted to reach home before it got too late. We decided to walk down the way, so that we can atleast reach near our home. But, from somewhere, an auto came and stood just in front of us and LO! The owner even agreed to take us to our destination. The moment we boarded the auto, my hubby managed to reach my father-in-law’s mobile and got the information that he was also safe and was reaching home.

Phew!! The evening went quite disturbed. Afterwards, we thought over the day and analysed that terrorists were very well able to inflict a phsycological fear in our minds. Though, thankfully, no bombs were found in Lajpat Nagar, but the turmoil that we went through, did surely was no different from going through any death experience. And in my life, I would never like anyone to go through this painstaking experience again!