But apart from keeping the cheer going, the men leading the charge at Oberoi Hotel were also careful in ensuring that the morale of their teams did not flag at any stage of the long drawn operations. The news of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s death was not allowed to percolate beyond two of the senior team leaders leading the Black Cats at Oberoi. “The Major had trained many of the boys fighting in the Oberoi. We knew the news of his death could affect their morale,” said one of the team leaders.

Some of the Black Cats in Oberoi even had a verbal duel with the two terrorists holed up there. Having been shot at by one of the commandos, one of the terrorists limped back to hide himself behind a wall. “Chhup Chhup ke kya marta hai, samney aa na, he shouted,” said a commando. “Tujhme dum hai toh tu samney aa ja naa, he was told by one of our men,” he added. Expletives, many in Punjabi, flew thick and fast between the commandos and the terrorists.

“I can tell you what all was said but you will not be able to print those words in a newspaper,” one of the Black Cats told this correspondent. He, too, had clearly not lost his sense of humour.