That decision saved his life, Sir Gulam now says. The restaurant “is the first place they killed people in, it was indiscriminate killing,” says the Mumbai-born founder and chairman of British food firm Noon Products.

Landov
Sir Gulam Noon, in an undated photo
When Sir Gulam, nicknamed the “Curry King” for his business in ready-made meals, first heard the shots, he thought it was fireworks from one of the many marriages that happen in Mumbai at this time of year. As it dawned on the group of seven that this was in fact gunfire, the phone rang and the hotel manager told them to stay in and lock the doors.

Looking out of the keyhole into the corridor, he and a colleague saw two terrorists walking past carrying guns. “They were kicking at the doors to open them, and then we knew how serious it was,” he said.

They barricaded the doors with furniture. At midnight a huge explosion rocked the building like an “earthquake,” Sir Gulam said. “In my mind, I thought we are going to see a 9/11 here,” he said, fearing the entire hotel would be blown up.

Sir Gulam remembers looking at his older brothers and saying “let’s be courageous, this can’t last forever.” With the television off, Sir Gulam was getting all his information from his daughters, who were watching the news in London. “They were saying, ‘the building is on fire on the south side on the 6th floor,” he remembers. His third-floor suite was on the north side, but outside the corridor was filling with smoke.

Discussion: Share Your Views
Share your thoughts on the attacks or offer your first-person observationsSoon they began to choke as smoke filled the room. At about 4.30 a.m., Sir Gulam telephoned the receptionist. “She was a brave girl, she was still there. I said ‘we are coming out, whatever happens we are coming out with our hands up,’ ” he said.

But the receptionist warned him “for God’s sake sir, do not take this step, you will be shot by commandos,” he said.

Staying in the room, they were spotted by firefighters, who moved a crane to their window, broke it and gradually brought the party out. “And our ordeal was over,” he said.

Outside they were met by hotel management with water. Sir Gulam, who was born in Bombay and settled in the United Kingdom in 1973, learned that the hotel manager who he had talked to the day before had lost his wife and two children in the fire.

“All the innocent people caught up this. It is very, very sad,” he said.

Sir Gulam, who is one of the largest contributors to the Labour Party, said he spoke with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the phone. “He said, ‘I’m very pleased you came out unscathed, you must tell me about it when you get back,’ ” Sir Gulam said.

“This was the worst crisis I have seen in my life. Bombay is under siege,” he said

Related posts: