Frankly speaking with Alok Tomar

Alok Tomar is an eminent and known face of the media industry. His early career began with UNI at the age of 19. Till date he has contributed many works as a scriptwriter by being a part of NDTV (Ji Mantri Ji), Aaj Tak, Zeenews, Jansatta, Pioneer and also KBC. Here is a short excerpt from his conversation with Devika Chhibber about his experiences at The Taj--

What was your initial thought after understanding the terror situation?

As a scriptwriter my preliminary thought was OK I have got another story. But later on some panic did creep in my head and I felt a bit helpless. Though later on I relaxed and started sorting out ways to deal with the situation.

Any moment when you were face to face with death?

Once at midnight when we all were relaxing suddenly fire broke out in the tomb next to our hall. We could not see anything. Everywhere it was just smoke, black smoke our eyes were burning. That was the moment I felt that my end is near. But finally the police personals came and guided us outside the room. I can never forget this moment.

Was the security system efficient in combating terror?

NSG arrived somewhere around 7:30 in the morning on 27th in the BEST buses. So you can well guess out what was the situation before. We were left on the security of the police who were having simple rifles which was a poor comparison with the AK 47 of the terrorists. I can assure you many would have not used their guns in a situation like this ever before.

So much discussion is going on over media`s role, what`s your take on it?

I myself have done a course on war reporting, which earlier was provided by the Indian government. So I can understand that reporting in such situations becomes really difficult. Thus we require skilled and trained reporters for such situations in which Indian media really lacks. Hence coverage does not become easy for reporters who usually cover political and human issues. There is an utmost need to have skilled and trained media personals to cope and combat such situations.

At last after being a part of such mayhem now do you see life with a difference?

No not much I am still lazy and lethargic. Actually I am still the same but yes as a journalist I have a new piece of adventure to share with the world. I would also suggest terrorists that such heinous acts of crime won`t suppress the spirits of Indians. We know what are you people trying to do and we well do all in our wills to evade it.