Exclusive: Mumbai Terror Survivor Prays for Her Attacker

Dec. 23, 2008 — -- A victim of the November terrorist attack in Mumbai, India, that killed at least 171 people said she doesn't blame her attackers.

Though she was shot twice, 45-year-old Andreina Varagona expects to make a full recovery after the harrowing experience. In an exclusive "Good Morning America" interview today, she said of the one attacker who was captured, "I'm certainly praying for him."

"That is a soul that has been misguided at a very early age, I'm sure taught to hate. ... I'm sure he thought he was doing the right thing," Varagona said.

"I really can't be angry. He wasn't singling me out. I happened to be there. It's a very sad thing. I have no anger in my heart," the Nashville, Tenn., woman said.

Varagona, who goes by the spiritual name Rudrani Devi, had gone to India for a two-week meditation retreat and was having dinner with friends at Mumbai's Oberi Hotel Restaurant when the gunmen entered.

"GMA's" Diane Sawyer had first spoken with Varagona just hours after the attack.

"[The gunman] immediately came to our table and started firing. It was like execution style. ... I was facing my friend Alan Scherr at the time and didn't even see the gunman," she said then.

Varagona was shot in the arm and leg, but friend and group guide Alan Scherr, 58, was not so lucky. He, along with his 13-year-old daughter Naomi, were killed.

When the gunman disappeared for a moment, hotel waiters ran to Varagona and rushed her to safety.

Today, less than a month later, Varagona said her spirit "has never been higher.

"I've had a lot of time to comtemplate and think about it," she said. "My friend Alan, I know he was prepared. It saddens my heart to see Alan and his daughter go. But Alan had been practicing for years meditation and prayer with another teacher. ... I knew that even though his body was taken, that he was prepared to move forward."

"I'm left behind and I'm blessed to be here, and I know this is true," she said.

Varagona is still recovering from the shot to her leg. Therapy begins in six weeks where walking, she hopes, will quickly turn into running.