Leopold Cafe: Back in business

I first heard it on BBC.  Nik Gowing,  winding up his take on Mumbai for the 1.30 p m news bullletin added as a footnote that Leopold Cafe was to re-open Sunday evening. Didn’t consider posting anything till I read Arun Shanbhag’s blog post,  saying he happened by the cafe  on Sunday morning and dropped in, noticing an open side-door.  Arun’s post carries a photo (presumably, an exclusive) of the cafe being readied for the re-opening. The photo by Mr Shanbhag reproduced here with the blogger’s permission.

At the cafe Arun ran into Keith Bradsher of The New York Times talking to Farzad, a partner in the cafe that has been in business since 1871 (that is correct).  Farzad told them two of his waiters were lost to  the terrorist attack.  Eight others, four of them foreigners,  in the restaurant were killed . Visitors would find a granede crater (of the size of a large organge, says Arun) under a table. The cafe owners have left it unfilled,  ’as a reminder of what we went through’.

As they left  the cafe Arun introduced himself to NYT reporter, and  captured in his camera  Mr Bradsher thumb-typing on his Blackberry an update for Lede, the NYT blog. 

A NYT report on citizen journalism refers to Arun’s blog posts/twitter feed on Mumbai attacks. The newspaper quotes him as saying,  he had not heard of the term citizen journalism till the other day, but Mr Shanbhag kept up his twitter feed/blog post because he felt “I had a responsibility to share my views with the outside world”. Mr Shanbhag, an assistant professor at Harvard medical School, is a Boston resident visiting Mumbai.

Footnote: Mr Shanbhag followed up his post with a  report around 4.30 p m Sunday, saying,  The Leopold Cafe “did” open briefly this morning, but apparently the crowds showed an excessive enthusiasm to get in and see the battle scars. The Owners could not get private security quick enough and the Police asked the owners to close shop. . . .

They battled for Mumbai

Those seeking to keep non-Maharashtrians out of Mumbai would do well to remember their contribution in battling terrorists at the Taj and elsewhere in Mumbai.  So says blogger Abraham Tharakan in a recent post. The point cannot be over-stressed; needs to be plugged in by other bloggers, the media, the chat-show hosts, and public-interest ad sponsors.

Maj. Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who truly needs no introduction to Mumbaikars, was Keralite raised in Bangalore; he had served in J & K, was stationed in Delhi; and gave his life for Mumbai.

Havildar Gajendar Singh who lost his life engaging a grenade-lobbing militant at Nariman House hailed from Dehradun.

Havildar Azad Singh, NSG, involved in the shoot-out that killed two terrorists at the Taj,  was no Mumbaikar. Nor was commando Rameswaran who took care of the third one gunned down at the Taj.  

The sight of a ravaged Taj wouldn’t let Mumbai people forget the terror attack, for months to come. What must be remembered as well is that among those who put their lives on the line for Mumbai were many who didn’t belong to Maharashtra.