If there was ever a question of whether the Indians have a deep distrust (understatement) of the Pakistanis, you need look no further than the front page of every Indian newspaper. The headlines of this morning’s paper include:
“Nariman House, not Taj, was the prime target of 26/11”
“JuD is LeT, FBI nail link”
For the three days that I’ve been here, and I can only imagine that hasn’t changed for the last six weeks, terrorism has been the headline. Thinking back to 2001, I don’t remember even the 9/11 attacks holding the press in such a concentrated frenzy for such a long time. Also, I don’t think that the average American understands how important a role that the US government and especially the FBI are playing in this investigation. Meanwhile, it seems that the Mumbaikers have moved back to business as usual, with a few token security measures thrown in around the main targets.
This morning the majority of our group arrived in Mumbai. This was another free day for us to explore the city, but now with a few more opinions. Today, we started at Crowford Market, a food market not too far from our hotel. Before getting there, the cab driver took it upon himself to take us to his “favorite” shop nearby. Apparently, in Mumbai, you only get an input on where you want to go, not the final decision!
Simonida getting instruction on Indian spices.
We then walked down to the former Victoria station. The name changed at the same time that Bombay became Mumbai by the nationalist government of the time. The locals still call it Victoria station rather than its official name Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus. We saw some of the token security measures that I mentioned, metal detectors that didn’t have any guards and that beeped futilely as thousands of people marched through unimpeded.
One of my favorite experiences so far was after leaving the station we went to a contemporary art museum down the street. The artists were mingling with the patrons in their exhibits and we had an opportunity to ask them questions about their inspirations and mediums. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
Curiosity got the better of us after a late lunch and we headed down to the Taj Mahal to see the aftermath of the bombings. The hotel is mostly in great condition and they’ve been working hard to get it back fully. The security there was, predictably, the best I’d seen so far. Business had clearly slowed for them (someone mentioned that they were renting rooms for less than $100 per night), but there was still a good amount of activity in the lobby and restaurants.
My jet lag was starting to catch up to me, so I ended up calling it a night around 7. Tomorrow, we’re meeting with the Municipal Commissioner for a discussion and tour of Dharvi, one of the infamous slums of Mumbai.
so when did bombay become mumbai?
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