No Offense?

Our family emergency, less than 48 hours later.

The following content is EXPLICITLY copyrighted to me, Nandita Godbole. I do not provide anyone in any shape or form, any kind of consent to take or extract anything from this narrative (looking at all the trolls). If you want to share, SHARE THE POST in as a link: http://bit.ly/CC_NoOffense

I came home two nights ago, after a hardworking, busy trip to LA, to find that our home had been burgled just a few hours prior, in broad daylight.

The burglars *TARGETED* our home.

Read each alphabet of that phrase carefully. T-A-R-G-E-T-E-D

We were robbed specifically of the gold and cash in the home.

"Because we are Indian" (in the words of the Roswell PD).

I must add that the officers may have mentioned it as a casual remark, reflecting on a pattern of behavior for the thieves, but to me, as a homeowner who had just suffered a trauma, as someone who just saw her sacred spaces defiled and destroyed by greed, I heard those words in shock and disbelief - the words held a different meaning from my perspective. I don't believe the PD was disrespectful in any way, and I do not imply it as such.

They came through the back door, smashed the glass, desecrated the family altar and then the study looking for valuables and $$ in the bookshelves.

They then went upstairs, ransacked through my entire bedroom, and my two armories, dumped out my jewelry box into their bag/pockets/whatever, rummaged through five shelves in each armoire, trampling through precious silk saris, and our two dressers, our freshly washed and folded laundry baskets, and another freestanding set of dressers, ripping open any boxes looking for money and valuables, through the bathroom vanities, and the closet, returned to flip the mattresses and looked under the covers, rummaged through my nightstand and shelves underneath. They checked other rooms as well, but there was nothing to satisfy their greed - and yet, they took a few pieces of COSTUME jewelry from the kids' room, the only costume jewelry we lost.

They got away with about $35K worth in gold and cash and things I am yet to discover missing, including mom's old jewelry and a Rado watch my dad gave me when I turned 14. They damaged several thousand dollars’ worth of furniture. They damaged newly created books.

The alarms were not working, it was a glitch.

They robbed us of the sanctity of my once peaceful house.

We have not slept either of the two nights, but locked ourselves in V's bedroom each night since, forcing our bodies to lay still in the dark - so we can deal with the challenges of the day. We cant sleep in another persons' home or a hotel room when ours is a short distance lays destroyed.

Uma flew in on a red-eye and we have until Saturday to wrap up things in order to attempt normalcy again. So HE CAN WORK TO PAY BILLS.

Our daughter is traumatized and hovers around me, not knowing what to do, choosing to stay home 'because'.

The detectives told us to share with our Indian friends, "watch your back, and let us know if you see something suspicious".

I informed four neighbor-friends who stayed with me for the first few hours, while the police were there. I called an old neighbor who drove down from CANTON with the supplies to board up the back door. The men patched up the back door and cleaned out the glass while the women sat with me as I took in the shock. A friend made a quick errand to Publix and picked up some fruits and detergent (my request).

But we were have been traumatized to eat or do anything. I ate 4 pieces of watermelon at 3.30 a.m. and a bowl of cereal. I finally ordered a few things off Instacart yesterday so I would have frozen pizza and salad and milk, and we may eat something.

Neighbors were not more than a few hundred feet away.

No one heard anything.

No one saw anything.

Our back door is exposed to the world.

Our yard is the F****ing neighborhoods' proprietary 'right-to-use-and-abuse'.

Yet, no one noticed anything.

The thieves were in our home for atleast 15 minutes, given the damage they caused. We returned nearly three hours after - and it ALL went ***unnoticed***.

We are visible and yet conveniently invisible.

We've lived here for 12 years, had the police issue 2 restraining orders on neighbors for trespassing and their racially charged verbal actions, deflected a wrongful lawsuit, and two nights ago, filed one burglary report.

**The HOA president was doing her monthly rounds with their petty drive-by reviews for grass and weeds, and actually saw me wave her down in our driveway, and promptly CHOSE drove away, skipping our house. My husband had to chase after the car for 10+ homes to flag her down, so she would stop and talk to us. We know that she is most unwiling to help.**

When I shared this info. on the neighborhood app., people asked me how they could prevent a burglary in their own home, and how they can secure their own home, rather than offering to help. REALLY?

Our home insurance policies are shrouded in fine print and do not cover these damages. When the time has come to step up, they are backing down. They want to nickel and dime us.

The Roswell Police did not finger-print the house or check for footprints. They did not take anything as evidence, even the old briefcase that was ripped with a sharp instrument for its contents. They calmly told us that someone had been watching our house, following us, watching our movements and targeted us because we are Indians, prefacing it with a hushed voice, "no-offense, mam.... not trying to be disrespectful."