Book Review: Black Tornado
Sandeep Unnithan pays deserving homage to the Black Cats in his book and leaves the reader with a better understanding of the circumstances leading to the 26/11 attacks, says Tanea Bandyopadhyay
Author Sandeep Unnithan’s journalistic experience makes itself apparent with the factual narrative of Black Tornado, a documentation of the 26/11 terror siege of Mumbai and the role of the National Security Guard (NSG). It aims at giving the reader an understanding of the background events and circumstances that enabled the attack though the personal experiences of victims are woven in, a trifle awkwardly.
This, however, does not detract from the story in any way. The book, named after the operation launched by the NSG, begins with a preface that delineates the intention behind the siege and then moves into a brief history of terror attacks in Mumbai.The story begins with a retelling of the attack. Unnithan wastes no time with frivolities and gets right on with a fast paced account of events, stitching in back stories of David Headley’s involvement, the history of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and accounts of hostages like Priya Martis who was trapped in the Taj for two days before being rescued by commandos.
What is admirable about Black Tornado is that it does not shy away from exposing the flaws of the police, army and the bureaucracy and does not undermine the struggle of all three to control the attack either. Its biggest merit lies in its attention to detail; every counter-attack, hostage situation and bureaucratic decision is explained for the readers’ benefit.The narrative has a few shortcomings nonetheless. Unnithan seems unsure of how to treat the emotional elements of the story; he either reports them with a brisk, unsentimental voice or attempts to lend poignancy to the moment, with varying degrees of success. Another, perhaps unavoidable, flaw is that he narrates the rescue missions at Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House separately, leaving the reader a little confused as to the timeframe. However, neither of these flaws hamper the suspense.Black Tornado does an excellent job of raising pertinent questions – why, for instance, was Mumbai not prepared despite several threat notifications from agencies; why have funds not been invested in better training the city police and providing them with better arms. It leaves the reader with a better understanding of the attack and renewed pride and respect for the bravery of the NSG commandos.