Police: Where were the people from?

Kasab: They don't tell you. I only knew about one. He said he was from Lahore. He became my friend.

Police: Didn't they allow you to speak to each other?

Kasab: We were forbidden to speak to each other. It was very strict. The proper training where they say, 'This boy is ready now' - that only takes three months. That's it.

Police: Did you ever ask, 'Won't I feel pity for the people I'm killing?'

Kasab: I did, but he said you have to do these things if you're going to be a big man and get rewarded in heaven.

Police: So you came here for jihad? Is that right?

Kasab: (crying) What jihad?

Police: It's no use crying. Tell me the truth. Is that right or no?

Kasab: You wouldn't understand.

Locked in a bathroom at Mumbai's Trident Oberoi hotel, another young Pakistani terrorist named Fahadullah knew the end was near. He was out of food, water, energy and ammunition, and could hear the steady stream of police gunshots getting closer.

He and nine other terrorists were winding down from a gruesome, 36-hour killing spree through the city, and he was talking on the phone to a handler far away in Pakistan.

'You mustn't let them arrest you, remember that,' the controller insisted.

'Fahadullah, my brother, can't you just get out there and fight?'

Fahadullah could not. 'I am out of grenades,' he weakly offered.

'Be brave, brother. Don't panic. For your mission to end successfully, you must be killed. God is waiting for you in heaven.'

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)