Disaster Tourism

I couldn't help myself. Today, while strolling in Colaba in search of a new pair of shoes, I stopped in at the Cafe Leopold for a fresh lime soda and a macabre look at the remnants left behind by the terrorists who shot up the place on November 26th.

Imagine my disappointment when the place seemed business-as-usual. The square tables were packed with locals and firangis, drinking beer and chowing down on veg Manchurian. No extra security protected its doors. No somber tone amongst the waitstaff or the patrons. No heaps of flowers lay where bodies might have slumped a couple of weeks ago.

Except for five easy-to-miss bullet holes in the glass and a sudden run on Cafe Leopold t-shirts, not much has changed at the hangout, which reopened its doors less than 48 hours after the start of the attacks, while the terrorists that had shot it up were still sending sprays of gunfire throughout the Taj hotel, a couple of blocks away.

A European couple at an adjacent table shared my disappointment. "It's like nothing happened," one said glumly to the other. They resigned themselves to taking a photo of a bullet hole in the glass panel and buying a t-shirt before going off in search of a venue with a better sense of post traumatic stress.

I watched, bemused, as I sucked down the last of my soda. Welcome to Mumbai, I wanted to tell them, where yesterday's disaster is today's opportunity for entrepreneurship. Instead, I bought a t-shirt, too.