Edgy But Defiant, Mumbai Inches Towards Normality As Hotels Scarred By Terror Reopen

Until gunmen entered the Taj Mahal hotel in the dark hours of 26 November, Praful Patel had known no other home for 16 years. Room 1017 had become his official residence, a sanctuary from which he ran his investment business amid statues of his favorite Hindu deity, Ganesha, the elephant-headed "remover of obstacles".

During those hours Patel, who is British, "died more than once" as the sound of gunfire and explosions reached the bed he hid in. Indian commandos rescued him the next day, walking him out through pools of blood.

Last night he checked back into his room, part of a collective act of defiance against the group whose bloody rampage had left more than 170 dead.

"My family did not want me to come back. I also went to see my swami and spent four days with him. I just needed to find my peace. I did not want those terrorists to win."

These sentiments were echoed across the city, which has come back to life in the weeks after the attack. Things will never be the same: the two five-star hotels, the Taj and the Trident, which were the scene of the 59-hour sieges, now screen all baggage and frisk guests. A month ago, anyone could breeze through the marbled lobbies.

Armed guards now prowl the corridors of the Taj, once the preserve of the rich, the famous, the beautiful and the people who served them. This is just the first step for the hotel. The more badly damaged sections, under the turrets and domes, will not be restored until 2010.

"This reopening of the Taj is to say that we can be hurt but we will never fall," said Ratan Tata, head of the group that owns the 105-year-old mock-gothic hotel.

Yesterday was a day of ceremonies. In the Trident, eight priests drawn from Mumbai's bewildering mosaic of religions - Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism - came together to say that the city would not disintegrate in the face of terror.

The attacks were not just India's tragedy but the world's: people from 22 nations lost their lives. Across the city over the weekend thousands of students wearing white T-shirts and carrying black placards held demonstrations to say they would not be cowed by such attacks.

A pulse of fear still courses through Mumbai, especially for those who were caught up in the mayhem. Ransley Santhumayor had been in the Leopold cafe, which sits a few streets behind the Taj, on that fateful last Wednesday of November. He had been trying to play dead when he caught the eye of a lone gunman who shot him four times, leaving his right leg little more than bone and blood.

Three weeks after the attacks, relieved but apprehensive, the 28-year-old remains on the ninth floor of the Bombay hospital, still waiting to go home. He does not know whether he can again set foot in the Leopold, which reopened a few days after the attacks. "The gunmen looked at me and our eyes locked. I cannot forget that. It has made me afraid of crowds, I see suspicious faces - I start hyperventilating. I get scared."

Mumbai's very openness contributes to this sense of continued vulnerability. Life in the city spreads out on to the pavements, into the markets and along the curve of Marine Drive which skirts the Arabian sea. These public places make for soft targets.

Mumbai's Jewish community epitomizes the city's mix of defiance and vulnerability. The attacks, in which six Jews were killed including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, were the first time Jewish people have been targeted in India because of their faith. Many Jewish centers closed in the aftermaths of the attacks. Now they are open again.

On the eve of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the faithful gathered in the Keneseth Eliyahoo synagogue to celebrate and remember the "fallen".

"It is a human feeling [to be scared]. I cannot deny it," said Rabbi Dov Goldberg, who is helping to rebuild the Chabad community centre where the attacks took place.

"But you know we as rabbis are like soldiers. When one soldier falls the first thing to do is to take his weapon and carry on. In our case the weapon is the light and we will continue to spread the light."