'Never felt so scared'

Shahabuddin

Shahabuddin Ahmed

It was a horrific night! Horrific! I am still having goose bumps. It's still all blurry for me.

It was at 8:30pm and I was preparing for dinner. My daughter Chitro was not home yet. She went towards Bastille with her friends, like every other weekend. Bastille is very popular amongst youngsters, and on weekends, it's more crowded. I myself went to Bastille in the evening to see an exhibition of young artists, but I came home early. I knew Chitro would have dinner with her friends and come home late. So, my wife and I were preparing for dinner.

Chitro called, she was speaking in a terrified voice. She spoke of danger. Said she was hiding in the basement of a café in Bastille with many others. All the lights had been turned out. There were sounds of heavy gunshots and she said “it felt like a state of war”.

I couldn't believe my ears. I asked my wife to turn on the television. I was stunned seeing the news. The place I just visited a while ago had become a war zone. Army was there and so were gunshots. I came to know it was a terrorist attack.

I became tense. All I could think of was when I would get to see my daughter. Would I even see her again? We were feeling helpless. But Chitro kept calling and updating us every time she had the chance. They could not hide in the café for long. But the war was turning so violent that they got scared.

This café and Bataclan Hall is on the same lane. The explosions, attacks, screams, and deaths -- everything was going on around them all at once. They feared the café would come under bomb attack too. They sneaked out the back door, and somehow managed to get to a garden. There were lines of houses beside the garden, but everything was dark, the lights were out. Only the street lights were on.

(The writer is a famous painter. Born in Dhaka in 1950, Shahabuddin actively fought on the battlefield during the country's Liberation War. He has been living in Paris for almost four decades. He is one of the 50 contemporary master painters. In 2014, the French government conferred on him “The Order of Arts and Letters.” He also received Swadhinata Padak and Bangla Academy Purashkar.)

Partha Pratim

Partha Pratim Majumder                            

I have never been this scared in all my life. The death toll kept rising and I kept thinking that it could have been me, my son or daughter or it could have been one of my kin, my friends! Every time the thought crept into my mind I continued to get startled.

I stay a little away from the main city, in Mesi Palazzo. From the scene of the carnage, it takes about 20 minutes or so by metro rail. I could hear the sound of explosions from that far away.

Friday nights in Paris means fun and festivities. People in this city toil away during the weekdays and during the weekends they let loose and enjoy. Hence, I presumed the sound of explosions around 8:30pm as part of the weekend celebrations. I did not even think I needed to pay attention.

But a few minutes later, my son told me that the entire city was under the siege of terrorist attacks. I got news of only 18 dead then. We could not even imagine that the number could reach 100.

The clock had struck 10:30pm then. My son and daughter returned home an hour back. One of my son's female friends also came to our house. They were preparing to watch a horror movie in the next room after finishing dinner. My daughter saw the news on her tab and showed it to me. Upon turning on a 24 hour news channel, I saw the death toll was rising. French president Francois Hollande was seen making a statement on TV around midnight. He assured the people of safety. However, seeing the scenes of the city I found it hard to rely on that assurance. But, as he is the president of such a developed nation, I eventually tried to have faith in it. 

I have been somewhat captive in the house all night. Well-wishers have called me from all around the world, asking how I am. I could not sleep the entire night; my wife is also in the same state. I never thought I would feel so insecure in such a developed nation. Anything can happen any time!

(The writer is famous mime artist. He was born in Pabna, Bangladesh, in 1954. He has been living in Paris for 35 years. In 2011, he received “Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters,' the highest honour of the French government in the cultural arena. He also won Ekushey Padak.)