Teeming Mumbai simply rolls on

As Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the sprawling Indian city this week to pay homage to victims of Nariman Chabad House, the Jewish centre targeted in the November 2008 attacks, Mumbai appears to have achieved the ultimate triumph over the terrorists.

Despite a few signs declaring "do not forgive, do not forget'' and stepped-up security at hotels frequented by westerners, the locals are displaying that ultimate act of aggressive contempt to those who would seek to harm us -- they've ignored them.

In a city where hundreds of workers a year are injured or killed from falling from bamboo scaffoldings, human tragedy must be absorbed quickly.

"We moved on very quickly, that is the Indian way,'' says Rabeea who works in public relations at an exclusive hotel.

"The rest of the world seemed to be concentrating on the attacks long after we had put them behind us.''

Ten coordinated attacks across the city killed more than 170 people and wounded a further 300.

At the Leopold Cafe, extensively damaged by gunmen who sprayed staff and guests with automatic weapons fire, part owner Farzan walked past a bullet hole covered by a small portrait painting Monday afternoon to deliver his fifth press conference to the western journalists swarming over the city.

Two of his staff were killed in the attacks, a loss he took deeply personally because of the close knit nature of the Leopold's working environment.

Farzan says the Leopold, founded by Iranians in the mid-19th century and offering cheap beer and food to five generations of wanderers in the East, is far from beaten.

"The city was in lock down for three days after the attacks and we put up the shutters and opened on the fourth day,'' he said. "We wanted the terrorists to know this -- we won, you lost.''

Those religiously inspired rationales for the blood shed have no place in a cafe which reflects the Indian tradition of acceptance of all creeds.

"Who says there is east and west and never the twain shall meet?'' Farzan asked. "They meet at the Leopold.''

Mumbai and greater India's famed tolerance for religious difference has been tested in recent years, but the city, which suffers appalling poverty, appears to still offer a welcoming and largely peaceful face to the world.

The city is India's financial centre as well as the core of its arts and entertainment community with "Bollywood'' attracting youthful hopefuls in the same manner as its Los Angles counterpart has done for generations.

The country has also weathered the financial crisis extraordinarily well, with indications its trend towards opening up its borders to the global financial community is escalating.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seen by ex-patriot executives working in the city to be more open to foreign investment than any other leader in recent history.

The former finance minister, who carried out extensive financial reforms from 1991 to 1996, said earlier this month he would welcome further investment in equity in Indian companies by qualified institutional investors.

In his key note address to the 25th India Economic Summit he said he hoped to see India achieve a growth rate of seven per cent compared to around 6.5 per cent this year as the country's stimulus package tapers off.

"We resorted to a significant stimulus and we will take appropriate action next year to wind this down,'' he said.

The locals reflect the city's brief reign as the headquarters of the old East India Company with an extraordinary mercantile skill, which advertising guru and documentary producer Prahlad Kakker says is part of Mumbai's inheritance.

"Mumbai is the city of traders, New Delhi for the public service,'' he says.

At the popular tourist attraction, The India Gate, a 21st century street hawker totes a digital camera complete with printer slung over his shoulder.

He'll take your portrait at the gates and offer a hard copy within about 90 seconds, all for less than one Canadian dollar.

While the locals have moved on from the horror of the attacks there is still a determination to find those responsible.

The Times of India continues to report on developments on investigations surrounding the attacks in the lead up to the Nov. 26 anniversary.

On Wednesday, the paper reported investigators were getting closer to the identity of those who gave the orders to Ajmal Amir Kasab and his followers who terrorized the city.

Harper's low-key visit was widely reported in local media as he paid tribute to the victims of Nariman Chabad House, where six people were killed including Canadians Rabbi Holtzberg and his pregnant wife.

Harper and his wife Laureen paid silent tribute the victims at the site of the terror attacks but Harper later referred openly to the attacks at a luncheon:

"I have to say having visited the site of one this morning that these acts are acts which all peoples -- Canadians, Indians and all civilized peoples -- utterly condemn."

Rabbi Yousef Kantor told Harper his visit had strengthened the city's Jewish community.

"That you chose now, one year after the attacks, to come and visit, strengthens our courage to move forward."

Michael Madigan is the Winnipeg Free Press correspondent in Australia. He was in Mumbai this week.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 20, 2009 A14