Why do they go after Mumbai?

A Bombay (Mumbai) native asks why the city was attacked. The answer is the same as it always is: democracy, whiskey, sexy!

Why do they go after Mumbai? There’s something about this island-state that appalls religious extremists, Hindus and Muslims alike. Perhaps because Mumbai stands for lucre, profane dreams and an indiscriminate openness.

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From the street food vendor squatting on a sidewalk, fiercely guarding his little business, to the tycoons and their dreams of acquiring Hollywood, this city understands money and has no guilt about the getting and spending of it.

He has a reaction to this attack that is very similar to the one I had after 9/11. When everyone else was talking about building little, short, squat buildings in the place of WTC 1 and 2, I was hoping for something not 110 stories, but 111 stories right back in the same place. Paint a big middle finger on it with an AA battery at the top and we got a deal.

...the best answer to the terrorists is to dream bigger, make even more money, and visit Mumbai more than ever. Dream of making a good home for all Mumbaikars, not just the denizens of $500-a-night hotel rooms...of clean running water, humane mass transit, better toilets, a responsive government. Make a killing not in God’s name but in the stock market, and then turn up the forbidden music and dance; work hard and party harder.

By the way, I remember the middle finger being Lia's idea.