Life slowly returning to normal in Mumbai

Mumbai: Shrugging off the trauma of three days of terror, Mumbai returned to something like normal on Monday morning with students flocking to their schools and people heading back to work while the stock market and Bollywood also went back to business.

In a demonstration of their fabled never-say-die spirit, Mumbaikars left their homes as usual.

Although many government and private offices had stayed open on Friday and Saturday, only a few people had ventured out of their homes or made it to work as operations to neutralise the remaining terrorists were still ongoing.

Private and public vehicles - including buses, trains, auto rickshaws and taxis - were operating normally yesterday morning.

"The trains were jam-packed as usual in the morning," said Sudhir Joshi, who works at private firm J.B. Boda in Churchgate and commutes every day from his home in Vasai.

"There were very few people on Friday and Saturday ... but today it seemed they were more crowded than usual," he added.

Schools and colleges have also begun functioning normally.

"After a four-day break, I have sent my son to school today," said Manisha Boikar, a resident of Dongri in the heart of the city.

"The situation seems to be normal now and so there is no point in keeping our children at home. After all, we cannot compromise their careers," she said.

The stock market was open and brokers were also back at work. Although the stock exchange was open on Friday, brokers preferred to stay away because of the crisis.

Rakesh Shah, a sub broker, said that Monday was the first day he had been to work since Wednesday.

How do you think Mumbai is going to react this time? Do you think the politicians are actually responding or are the resignations just a whitewash?