PUNE, Feb 16 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Dressed in their flowing crimson robes, members of the Osho spiritual community used to be regulars at Pune's German Bakery before a bomb ripped through the packed restaurant last week.
Located across the road from the Osho campus, the popular eatery was a favourite of Jewish and European visitors and the perfect meeting place for foreigners from the ashram.
Until the bomb attack on February 13.
"We are a peace-loving people, this attack comes as quite a shock for us," said Italian Emanuele Zeffiro, who works at the Osho meditation resort.
"I had breakfast in the morning with my friend at the bakery and by evening this happened," Zeffiro said.
Nadia Macrini, a 37-year-old teacher and Osho member from Italy was killed in the blast along with at least eight others.
Security had been increased at the Osho ashram ever since it became known it was a sensitive target for militants. The Pune ashram was one of the sites surveyed by David Headley, arrested in the United States last year and charged with scouting targets for the Mumbai attacks.
Followers of the Indian spiritual guru Bhagwan Rajneesh, popularly known as Osho, found the increased surveillance overwhelming.
"There was a time when any tourist could come and visit the centre any time, but after the Mumbai attacks the checks and regulations have been made very stringent," Zeffiro said.
A bevy of security personnel posted outside the sprawling campus and its own officials manning the iron gates has turned it into an impregnable fortress.
The morning after the blast, members of the Osho community were picking up the pieces of their lives, walking past the blast site and sharing their memories with reporters.
"Osho's philosophy is all about being here, now. It is about celebration," said Antar Farid.
"That and meditation helped us move on and get over the sadness."
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