Finishing on a high

ON Nov 26, 2008, Bassam Salem was in Mumbai, India for a board meeting and was having dinner at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, one of the city's most iconic buildings, when terror struck.

Ten men had stormed into India's financial capital. For two nights and three days, the Taj was under seige, held by crazed men brandishing grenades and automatic weapons. They took people hostage, killed many and set fire to the hotel's famous dome as the world watched in horror. The 60-hour attack on Mumbai eventually ended with more than 160 dead and 600 injured. Nine of the terrorists were killed by security forces, one survived and was arrested.

"I was fortunate, or unfortunate, I don't know, but I was in India when the terrorists attacked the Taj," Mr Salem says. "It was an awful night. More than 80 people died around me that night. We were freed by the army early in the morning. I was hiding under the sofa. The bombs, the grenades ... It was a total nightmare and there was absolutely nothing I could do. There was nowhere t…