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Some day Farhang Jehani might patch up the bullet holes and cover the shrapnel pockmarks. But for now they are the Leopold Café’s new decor.
“We are going to let it be,” Jehani said over the din of his crowded restaurant, where eight people were killed in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. “It’s part of history.”
In the two weeks since the attacks, this Mumbai neighborhood of narrow streets shared by street urchins and the well-to-do has staggered back onto its feet. But at the Leopold Café, it is often standing room only.
The restaurant has become a sort of shrine of defiance against terrorism. That, at least, is how Jehani portrays it. “I want it to go on the same way – as if nothing has happened,” he said…
Six patrons and two waiters were killed. The gunmen then walked down a narrow street to the back entrance of the Taj hotel, where they then terrorized guests and hotel staff for more than two days.
Both waiters at the Leopold who died, Peer Pasha and Hidayat Khazi, were Indian Muslims. A note at each table, placed under the glass tabletop, advises diners that donations for family members of the “deceased staff” can be made at the cashier.
Stand up for a normal life. It’s never easy. If you believe in your family, your community – it’s what you must do.
Eideard 