This week has been rather strange. The first three days were marked by the political drama(in which I'm least interested.. except for the impact on the BSE), trust vote situation and Manmohan Singh's victory, blah blah blah. The latter half, however, was devastating where a combined 25 blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad claimed many innocent lives.

Around 8 blasts took place on friday in Bangalore city's busy market places like Madiwala, Adugodi etc. I could see the effect of the blasts immediately on the life of the people in Bangalore. There were increased security checks at most IT firm offices, employees being sent home early,not to mention "Visitors not allowed" and other rules being imposed. The usually crowded streets of BTM Layout were mostly deserted with a vehicle or two weaving in and out of the road.Even the ever-tormenting Hosur Road traffic had died down on Friday. All friends and relatives have been calling in to check whether I was safe, mainly because Madiwala, place where the first blast took place, is almost adjacent to BTM layout.

On any other Saturday, I would mostly be in office for some extra slogging. This time, it was different. I was at home most of the time, went out once or twice for food and that's it. In the afternoon, while everyone was still thinking over what happened in Bangalore the previous day, news started coming in about the blasts reported in Ahmedabad. By evening, the number of blasts had gone up to 17. Today, on Sunday, as I write this blog, the death toll in Ahmedabad is around 40-45.

All we can do at this moment is pray for our safety and peace for the souls of the departed ones.