René Seifert - Entrepreneur & Global Citizen

Thanks for all the concern which you expressed in mails, tweets and calls. I can assure you that I am fine, not in Mumbai and in a safe place in Bangalore. Beyond the obvious shock from the news, today's attack send a very personal shiver down my spine, because I love Mumbai as a vibrant city unlike any other, have spent many times there, in particular slept many nights in the Taj Mahal Hotel. The same Taj Mahal Hotel which has been one of the prime targets of the terrorist attacks. The last time I spent there was some three weeks ago, where I also blogged here with a pic, me sitting with my friends Sasha Mirchandani and Amit Grover for a peaceful breakfast on the poolside. From media reports I am watching, this place has become a scene of carnage, horror and bloodshed, with a dead body floating on the surface of the water.

Today is not a day to talk about myself, my thoughts are with the many other innocent guests who were simply at the wrong time at the wrong place last night. More than 100 who have lost their lives, one of them the German entrepreneur Ralph Burkei from my home town Munich. As I am writing, the drama is still on. What started as as deadly orchestrated terror attack on 11 prime locations in Mumbai transformed into a hostage taking on an unprecendeted scale of magnitude. As the authorities won't release numbers, the rumours range between 30 to 200 people in particular the Oberoi Trident Hotel are being held hostage by the terrorists.

What is life like in Bangalore? As I also could observe in the aftermath of the Tsunami, India is very robust. At least what Bangalore is concerned, life seems to go on quite normally, all shops, offices and schools operate as usually. Also all international flights from and to Bangalore, including Lufthansa, are running on schedule. However when you speak to people you can feel their concern and shock by their subdued voices and sadness in their eyes.

My before mentioned friend Amit called me today to ask if I was ok and I asked him about the situation in Andheri (further north in Bombay). He explained to me that hardly anybody is on the street and people are following the government's advise to stay at home today. On German media, like most other international ones, the attacks are the top story with constantly breaking news of the latest development. In that context I got a call from my former colleague Thomas Linke from the radio station Bayern 3 whom I helped connect to Bernhard Steinruecke, the head of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce for an interview.

Let me clear on a misperception which might easily arise in the west: Foreigners have not been targeted specifically in these attacks, although the first impression with two 5 star hotels and Cafe Leopold in Colaba (where I have eaten many times) might indicate so. This attack was not motivated out of xenophobia or anything like that. An Indian hospital with predominatly women and children as well as the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (former "Victoria Terminus') have indiscrminately become the targets of attack. Also, from my experience, these hotels are not just sleep-overs for foreigners, but in particular the favourite meeting places for both business and personal meetings of residents of Mumbai. Hence, the terrorists carefully selected their 11 targets from a very sober and correct assessment where the terror would be perceived worst with the global media covering best. That, as Thomas Friedman puts vividly, is the dark and ugly side of the "flat world".

As the drama is still on, with innocent people still in the hands of madmen committed to go to the ultimate, it is certainly too early for an analysis, let alone scapegoating. Yet, I staunchly believe that the question will be allowed how at least 40 people were able to plot such an attack with significant planning and logistics undetected. What is more, raid 11 places in Mumbai in parallel, many of the the very neural centres of the city, like an army of mercenaries in state out of control. Especially, the hostage taking in the Oberoi Hotel reminds me in the first place of Bruce Willis' sequel "Die Hard", were it not a sad reality on a day India and the world will never forget. Yet, it should raise issues about the quality of leadership in government, in particular when in comes in protecting its people.