The ungainly barricades surrounding the Taj Mahal and Trident hotels, the indifferently manned metal detectors at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the strong smell of fresh paint at Nariman House and a bullet lodged on the cracked surface of a table at Leopold Café.
These are the few visible signs of that night two years ago, when 10 men got off a decrepit dinghy at Colaba in south Mumbai and proceeded to redefine terrorism in India.
With AK-47s in their hands and murder in their hearts, they held our beloved metropolis hostage for over 60 hours.
The attack, one of the worst in India, made the nation and the world recoil in horror. But, like a fighter who totters back on his feet even after a knock-out punch, Mumbai moved on.
As we hailed Mumbai's fabled resilience and spirit, 166 families grieved the inconsolable loss of loved ones. On those three dreadful nights and days, 166 people died, 300 others were wounded, many of them maimed for life. Someone's mother, someone's father, sister, brother, son, daughter, lover, friend.
It is time to remember those who paid with their lives for the fanaticism of a few, to salute those who gave up their lives trying to shield others, and to honour those who survived the ordeal of terror.
It is time to light a candle, to show that we have neither forgiven nor forgotten.
It is time to light a candle; to show that as we move on, we cherish their memories, we value their sacrifice and we hail their courage.
