But yeah, suketu mehta’s description of ppl running towards the explosion to help is very true, at least from my experiences. I remember when working in canary wharf (one of the less pretty parts of london in my opinion), a coughing fit in the office elevator resulted in everyone else taking a few step away from me. In bombay , my new neighbour heard me cough in the stairwell and came over with a thermos filled up with tulsi ka kadhaa to make sure I would get better soon.

This is a general attitude difference between India and the West. In India, people are curious about new faces, are friendly to them, and try to help/know them. In the West, people turn away from new faces, or put up the invisible frost shield everyone seems to carry around. Then they complain about alienation and loneliness.

But the attack on the Taj has hit this city very hard. And some may say that why are we crediting an elitist estabilishment like that with more than its due. But the taj is not just about elitism, it is about the attitude that makes bombay different from any other city in the country. When Jamsetji Tata was denied entry into the Watson’s hotel , since it was strictly ‘Whites only’, he decided to not sit on an indefinite hunger strike outside the watsons hotel, but build something grander instead. I think that set the tone for what Mumbai would become, a city of possibilities & opportunities….

But yeah, suketu mehta’s description of ppl running towards the explosion to help is very true, at least from my experiences. I remember when working in canary wharf (one of the less pretty parts of london in my opinion), a coughing fit in the office elevator resulted in everyone else taking a few step away from me. In bombay , my new neighbour heard me cough in the stairwell and came over with a thermos filled up with tulsi ka kadhaa to make sure I would get better soon.

I am more than certain that things will revert to normal soon. Went to leo’s a few days ago with friends, and all was normal xcept the longer route we had to take as causeway has been cordoned off. But I do wonder….that the very thin line that separates resilience from indifference , might just be wearing thin….

This self confessed political junkie drew parallel between the “terrorism” involved in trampling death of a Wal-Mart employee on black Friday and the massacre in Mumbai. She went on to express her disgust with words like – Jesus Christ would be so disappointed that Christmas is making people do this.

The funniest thing was this crap was immediately followed by callers affecting American accent saying that this Wal-Mart terrorism has terrified them and they are scared to shop.

Maybe I have stumbled into the kayestha_lady

The overall Pak strategy is idiotic, both literally and in the sense of the following quote:

“Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

Pakistan has more experience managing Afghanistan-type environments, so their plan is to turn all of South Asia into an Afghanistan, and then rule it using their experience. In general, this is what all bullies and terrorists try to do. They are not successful competing in meritocracies, so they try to break down society to bare knuckles living, where they have a better chance of reigning supreme.

Really bad losers.

sorry, i’m off-topic (albeit a rob-kinda girl): 1. building is a function of available land, which is ultimately very expensive in bombay. so no matter how free government policies are real estate in bombay is bound to be expensive. in any case, population of willing homeowners is increasing much faster than livable square footage. 2. real estate firms in india are probably pretty collusive (directly or indirectly). 3. building beyond a certain range is probably not a good idea; a sustainable city has to have adequate inratsructure in place to accommodate its inhabitants. open or forested areas would be a nice bonus. bottomline: it is quite unlikely that real estate prices are going to fall in bombay. even abolishing rent control as a policy wouldn’t accomplish that much at this stage.

My take: USA funded and trained the Mujahadeen of Afghanistan through Zia Ul Haq of Pakistan. Arming the Pashtun Mujahadeen with the goal of wresting Afghanistan from USSR could give Pashtun nationalism a boost and breakup Northwest Pakistan. He used the money and raised more from Saudi Arabia to promote Islamisation on Pakistan’s Afghan border. This tactic would keep at bay demands for a Pashtun nation, since Islamisation trumps tribal affiliation. The Islamic Pashtuns later became the Taliban. Part of the funds were diverted to the Indian border to foment the Sikh separatist movement. The seeds for the terrorist outfits in Azad Kashmir rebellion were also started at this time.