Cabbie is third time lucky

This is the third time that taxi driver Vasand Mandavkar, 51, has had a narrow escape from a terror attack. Had his cab not broken down a few metres away from Opera House, he would have been at the centre of the site where the bomb exploded and claimed 10 lives.

This is the third time that taxi driver Vasand Mandavkar, 51, has had a narrow escape from a terror attack. Had his cab not broken down a few metres away from Opera House, he would have been at the centre of the site where the bomb exploded and claimed 10 lives.

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“I was upset when the cab’s brakes failed as I wanted to munch on some papad near Opera House. Instead, I had to take the vehicle to a garage,” said Mandavkar, a resident of Girgaum. “As I reached the garage, one of my relatives called to check whether I was fine.”

Having driven in the city for 37 years, Mandavkar said this isn’t the first time he has narrowly escaped a terror attack.
“In 2004, I had walked out after grabbing a vada pav at a Mumbadevi stall a few minutes before the twin blasts. During the terror attacks on November 26, I was at the Colaba market. It was scary,” he said.