Latest update: 26/12/2008 

- India - Pakistan


Mumbai tries to return to normal
Residents in Mumbai are struggling to return to their normal lives after the 26/11 attacks. One month on tourists are returning to the Mumbai Café where the attacks began.
By Kate WILLIAMS (text)

It is just in front of  Mumbai's Leopold café that the terror attacks started. 10 people were killed here. A month later, the tourists are back. Inside, everything has been left as it was, and the bullet holes have become something of a tourist attraction.

Eric Anthony, manager at the Leopold Café says  “customers are coming from all over the world to see the bullet marks, they take photos, we want to keep it like that forever, we are part of history, we are like a monument now." The other major pilgrimage site is of course the Taj Hotel, where the terrorists also struck.  Visitors are drawn to the plaque that bears the names of the victims; but all other traces of the blood bath have been erased. The message is clear – things are back to normal.

And this is exactly what Deepak Datta wants. He has asked the hotel to give him the same room that he stayed in before the attacks. "This is my room, just the way I have left it." Nothing has been touched since the hotel closed. Deepak was stuck here for 24 hours during the siege. The first thing he does on returning is give thanks to the gods that watched over him that day. Deepak Datta, Mumbai terror survivor says "I had vowed that I would come back on the first day, I wanted to be the first guest also to follow my word with action that I'm not going to kneeled down in front of terrorism."

For Vijay Chhabria, it isn't easy to move on. His brother and his sister-in-law were killed in the Oberoi hotel. Vijay Chabbria, businessman "people who tell you that they feel very safe are maybe people who didn't go into the Oberoi or the Taj, who didn't see any action, who didn't lose a loved one…. But … my friends who were killed… their family members are devastated. There's no question about feeling safe." When alone, he shows us the gun that has not left his side since the attacks.  

 Mumbai is now a divided city - between those for whom things will never be the same and those who believe life must go on. All have been deeply affected by the events. "Indian people have a short memory, they forget things really fast, so the reason for this peace rally is to say that we have not forgotten." Every night since November the 26th, people have been gathering here to pay their respects to the hundred and seventy five victims, and to swear they’ll never forget
 

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