Long road back from atrocities

As soon as Mumbai's economic and business machine tried to grind back into action yesterday, it was painfully clear there would be no rapid return to normality. That's not because international business will flee the city. But the 105-year-old Taj Palace, and the brasher high-rise Trident Oberoi, were the cogs around which the city's business life revolved.

Their absence is already being felt. The UK Deputy High Commissioner has thrown open her own house this evening for the monthly British business networking event - it normally happens in the Trident.

On Saturday night former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin was supposed to have been in the Trident collecting an award for Global Indian of the Year. Instead the hotel was shaking with the final shots of the battle.

This Saturday the Trident is supposed to host the Caledonian Ball, the biggest annual shindig for Brits.

The entire Morgan Stanley investment banking team in Mumbai operated out of suites at the Trident. Fortunately, the eight still at work when the gunmen struck walked out unhurt after a nerve-racking 20 hours. Now the bank has to decide whether to take the suites again.

After the 2006 train bombings, Mumbai was back to normal within hours. This time, for Mumbai's elite, there will be no business-as-usual until the Taj reopens. The collapsed tile roof and charred floors suggest that could take years not months.

Sadly, too, there will be lingering fears that hotel atrocities rather than train blasts could be the pattern of future attacks in India.