Mumbai:
Cadell Road, Mahim. The aroma of fresh kebabs. That's my association with this predominantly-Muslim area, which appears just after one crosses Mahim's famous Church in Mumbai.
(See pictures)On Monday night, as I inched closer to the site of where a building had collapsed, it was the suffocating smell of dust and cement that overwhelmed me.
Altaf Manzil, a five-storey building, had literally split into two. One side came crashing straight down. Four floors were completely flattened. Just rubble. What were once the fifth floor and terrace were now sitting dangerously on a mountain of debris.
In the chaos of the rainy evening, the soundtrack was one of the screaming sirens of fire engines and ambulances.
Family members wailed aloud, clutching each other tightly; some praying, some repeatedly dialing their loved ones, hoping they would answer. Dozens of policemen were assigned to control a confused and angry crowd.
Mumbai's blue-coated firemen were calm. Composed and professional, they worked with a sense of determined urgency.
Not the first time, I thought to myself, that they would have been confronted with such a disaster.
As bulldozers frantically dug into large blocks of concrete and mangled iron, suddenly, the intact remnants of the fifth floor sank further and tilted precariously to its right before crashing down. The crowd shrieked collectively. Their faces painted in horror and fear, they turned and bolted towards safety.
In one corner, I saw a familiar face. Mumbai's well-known criminal lawyer Rizwan Merchant who only recently had represented convicted Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt when he was sent to jail. Wearing his customary white shirt and black trousers, Rizwan was fully drenched. But little did he care.
Like others he too waited, teary-eyed. Hoping, his son, wife and mother had survived.
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