New Delhi: On the night of November 26, 2008, Mumbai’s vibrant routine was shattered by gunshots, explosions and raging flames, turning an ordinary evening into a night of terror that stretched into a 60-hour siege. Amid the chaos emerged stories of exceptional courage — of security personnel who faced terrorists head-on and of ordinary citizens who rose to extraordinary heights in their line of duty.
Among them was former MARCOS (Marine Commandos) member Praveen Kumar Teotia, honoured with the Shaurya Chakra for his bravery during the operation at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. Teotia sustained five bullet wounds that night — one grazing his ear and another breaking his ribs and damaging his right lung. Despite his injuries and the tactical disadvantage of entering a dark room where the terrorists had already settled in, he continued engaging them until his team was able to rescue about 150 people from a nearby hall.
“I was among two MARCOS teams that joined one already at the site — around 24–25 commandos who entered through different access points,” he recalled.
MARCOS, the Indian Navy’s elite special forces unit established in 1987, is renowned for its expertise in unconventional warfare, counter-terrorism and high-risk missions across sea, air and land. Their past operations include the 1988 Maldives coup rescue (Operation Cactus), the 1999 Kargil War and several anti-piracy missions.
Looking back on 26/11, Teotia said he had only one focus: “There was no specific thought except how to neutralise the terrorists and rescue innocent lives.”
Now 40 and practising law in Delhi after leaving service, he described that night as both a duty and a privilege. “For a soldier, it is a privilege to serve his country and its citizens, to eliminate any threat against them,” he said. He added that although he had taken part in numerous operations in Kashmir, he felt an added rage seeing “foreign-bred terrorists challenging our nation” inside the Taj.
Despite severe lung damage that left him in intensive care for 19 days, Teotia has since completed marathons and remains fit and active — a rare recovery story among such cases.
While Teotia and his fellow commandos were battling terrorists inside the hotel, a young reporter was braving another kind of danger outside. Journalist Mahrukh Inayet was among the many media personnel covering the unfolding attack, but her calm, precise reporting for over 60 hours made her stand out.
She recalled the moment gunfire erupted near the media line: “It had been close to 36 hours since I had been reporting outside the Taj. Suddenly a bullet hit somewhere on my left and someone shouted, ‘Duck — they’re firing at us.’”
Inayet dropped flat on the street, the Taj towering before her, even as cameras continued to record both the hotel and her live coverage. “All I was thinking was to let people know what was happening on the ground,” she said.
It was only later that she learned the image of her reporting while lying on the pavement amid gunfire had become symbolic of frontline journalism during the attacks. “I wasn’t aware. I was just trying to understand what was happening and report it as calmly as possible. But staying calm was the hardest part,” she said.
The Mumbai attacks generated countless accounts of resilience and dedication — many from individuals whose contributions remain little known. Together, their courage marked India’s collective fightback against terror and remains etched in the nation’s memory.
