Our 1985 cover on the Delhi blasts

There is no such thing as being prepared for or getting used to terrorism. India has lived with the scourge longer than most democracies, but every attack is like the first. The shock and grief over the loss of innocent lives and the devastation it visits upon the families are always deeply felt. The three serial blasts in Delhi, in which more than 60 people were killed, caused damage not just to life and property but also to public sentiment. With Diwali and the end of the month of Ramzan falling within four days of each other, the markets were bound to be soft targets.

As the national capital, Delhi is automatically the focus of extremist attention. In the past five years, the city has witnessed an armed attack on Parliament and bomb attacks at the army camp in the Red Fort. There have been explosions in cinema halls and on trains. The Diwali attack, the first major incident during the festival season, was planned to cause most damage in crowded public spaces-much like in 1985, when at the height of Punjab terrorism, 85 people were killed after transistor bombs were left at 30 locations across the NCR.

Today, we are dealing with a different kind of beast. Even though its roots and concerns are regional or national, terrorism is a global industry. India's problem might be Kashmir-centric terrorism, but terrorists could come from anywhere, choose any target and strike at any time. The means available for spreading terror are difficult to detect, more sophisticated and far more lethal now.

India Today pooled in all its resources for this week's cover story on the Diwali blasts. Within minutes of the explosions, Assistant Editors Sandeep Unnithan and Aasheesh Sharma, and Principal Correspondent Puja Mehra, who happened to be at the office working on a holiday, moved through the attack sites along with four photographers. Now that the initial shock has subsided, there is an urgent need to make sense of the event. Our cover story goes into the details of the investigations into the blasts which has police teams fanned out across four northern states. The story analyses the prime suspects behind the attacks and the diplomatic fallout of the incident. No one needs to be reminded that in the face of the terrorists' intent, we are all equally vulnerable. Paharganj, where the first bomb went off, is a 10-minute walk from India Today's editorial offices at Connaught Place.

What was heartening though was Delhi's response. The alertness of a bus driver and a conductor saved about 70 lives, the emergency services responded with speed and the man on the street remained undaunted. It was a powerful message by itself. Just as we have to learn to live with terrorism, the terrorists may eventually learn that while they can take human lives, the human spirit is not as easily destructible.

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