Bothell service honors India bombings victims

Hour after hour Tuesday, Mahesh Shastri tried desperately to telephone his family in Bombay.

Like many Seattle-area residents with roots in India's largest city, Shastri wanted to reach family and friends after a series of bombs tore apart commuter trains in Bombay, killing 182 people and injuring more than 800. It took dozens of calls, but eventually he learned that his loved ones were indeed OK.

"I'm really, really proud that the people there started helping each other out," Shastri, a priest at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Bothell, told about 200 people who filled the center Sunday to remember the bombing's victims.

"Today, we are here to search for answers," said Mani Vadari, chairman of the temple's board of trustees. "We are not here to condemn those who set off the bombs. On that day, life came to a stop for many of us, but we cannot let this stop us forever."

U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, spoke briefly, lamenting a lack of U.S. government response compared with other terrorist attacks around the world, such as bombings in London and Madrid.

"Bombay doesn't get a word," McDermott said. "If these people are forgotten in Congress, there's something really wrong."

Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb told temple members they were "among friends in this community."

Temple priests led prayers as the people in the temple sat on green, blue and orange prayer mats. The priests offered spiritual insight in hopes of making sense of the attack.

"Those born, they have to die," said Deekshith Parasaram, the temple's head priest. "This is a natural cycle, but unnatural death is very difficult to deal with."

Shastri urged those in attendance to remember the bombing victims by helping survivors.

And Parasaram offered reassurance that the Indian people would recover.

"These things are not good," he said. "However, the greatness of our humanity and culture will overcome."

Nathan Hurst: 206-464-2112 or nhurst@seattletimes.com