MUMBAI, India -
With a bit of pluck, even if was not always heartfelt, a touch of defiance and a dose of the city's famous resilience, Mumbai dusted itself off yesterday from last week's terrorist attack and headed back to work.
The trains were reasonably packed, traffic was beginning to resemble its normally chaotic self and shoppers eased back into the stores, even if many still were not buying much.
"Sure I'm scared," said Roshan Tengra, a housewife, as she headed into a Bank of India branch a few blocks from the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel where the most protracted militant attack occurred. "I haven't been out of my house for three days. But we have to start our lives again. Whatever else can we do?"
Mumbai and much of India has seen its confidence dented by a meticulously planned attack that started late Wednesday. Among the 10 targets were two luxury hotels, a prominent cafe, a Jewish center and a railroad station. When the last militant was killed almost 60 hours later, more than 170 people had died and hundreds of people were injured.
Shopping took on political overtones yesterday for people feeling a deep-seated anger at what had befallen their city.
"I want to shop just to show I'm not afraid," said research scholar Aparna Malvia, 28, as she looked at combs and accessories in a street stall in the Colaba Causeway shopping area. "If they dare, let them show themselves now."
She and others joined commentators and Indian celebrities in criticizing their politicians and government officials for their response to the attack.
Malvia said that she would torture the attackers herself if she got her hands on them.
"Of course, I believe in an eye for an eye," she said. "Human rights are for human beings. I don't think these guys are human beings. Who could kill children and attack hospitals like this? They're animals."
The Cafe Leopold, where nearly a dozen people died when two attackers threw a hand grenade and emptied two magazines from an AK-47 assault rifle in the dining room, reopened yesterday to a huge crowd.
Diners, well-wishers and the news media crowded narrow spaces between tables, and more people peeked in from the sidewalk, gawking at the large bullet holes in the window.
"I came for a bit of solidarity, to show support," said Jarrod Wood, 41, a musician from Australia who has lived in Mumbai for three years. "The fact that they apparently targeted foreigners makes me feel concerned. I think they're just trying to hurt India as it becomes more powerful internationally."
