Michael: There were sounds of machine guns and grenades and then there was a massive stampede. Then we got separated and I sprinted to the men's room and hid in a stall. She (Anjali) went off with the other friends. Initially, we were four men in the stall and then two of them decided to leave. They were all Nigerians. And we were there for 7 hours.
I was in a fetal position and the other guy sat on the pot for seven hours. We exchanged life stories. He told me how he had just gotten divorced in Nigeria. It was an emotional conversation. There were only two stalls. There were people in the other stall.
Aseem: And how did you and Anjali contact each other?
Anjali: I didn't have a BlackBerry. I had my dad's phone which I gave to Shiv, because their phone had died. As this time the lights were switched off. I was on the floor of the Chambers -- half lying against the wood panelling and people were lying on my leg. There was an Australian guy next to me who had just started a job at the Taj.
And another friend Vishal Kampani was there. He was in his workout clothes, because he had been to the gym. Vishal had a BlackBerry. I gave him Michael's e-mail address and he e-mailed him and I found out that he was okay.
At this point we could also hear gunshots outside the corridor. For five, six hours, every 40 to 45 minutes there were shots, gun battle and sound of grenades and then it would die down. But sometime there were single shots.
I just lucked out that I was in a room no one came in. Because in the neighbouring rooms, people were killed.
Image: Firefighters outside the Taj. Photograph: PTI Photo
Also see: When the terrorists hurled a grenade and fired...
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