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MUMBAI CAN BE down but never out. A day after the bomb blasts shook the megapolis, the city is fast coming back to normal, with old and young crowding suburban trains and BEST buses for the long trudge to work places. The Sensex, which is more the measure the city's heart-beat, is counting well while the rupee has gained belying the dreary predictions of many an analyst. The teeming populace of rich and poor seems to have bravely shrugged away yet another attempt to do in the business capital of the country.

By zeroing-in on the densely populated commodity markets in and around Zhaveri Bazar, with its mix of Hindu and Muslim populace, and the prestigious Taj Mahal Hotel abutting the Arabian Sea, the terror merchants have expanded the line and length of their attack. In 1993, they chose Dalal Street as the starting point for the serial bombings. The terrorists want to hurt, if not destroy, business. But that is not happening. Hopefully, politicians will not mess up the people's good show. Till a few years ago, underground violence in Mumbai rarely hurt the common man. But since the pulling down of the Babri Masjid, on December 6, 1992, the overground political violence has disturbed the tenor of the ordinary Mumbaikar and to that extent there has been a qualitative shift. Every political party has to share the blame for this. The political agenda has shifted to an indecorous pushing and shoving often leaving the economic agenda by the way side.Themega-city is having big problems on the economic front with the Maharashtra Government not able to find funds for development. After the closure of textile mills (because of a skewed excise duty structure that promoted the unorganised sector), employment opportunities have shrunk palpably. The education system is no longer highly regarded with Hyderabad and Bangalore offering superior options. Mumbai, and Maharashtra, has lost out to Hyderabad and Bangalore on IT. Technology has reduced the criticality of the Bombay Stock Exchange as anyone can trade on the National Stock Exchange screens across the country. With the RBI putting in place RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement), the online real-time clearing system to be ready by end-October, and the setting up of various commodity exchanges, trading could increasingly turn less Mumbai-centric as deals can be struck from any place.

The corporate sector is trimming labour force leaving the low-yielding services sector to theyoung generation. Agriculture looks a good bet but Punjab and other States have yet again snatched the lead from Maharashtra by getting into corporate farming in a big way. In the last 10 years, no political grouping at the Mantralaya has applied its mind to the pile up of problems all of which could by themselves cut Mumbai down even without the terrorists doing their bit.

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