The Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar are two faces of Mumbai -- as different from one another as can be. While time stands still at the famous Raj monument at the southern end of the metropolis, at Zaveri Bazaar, tucked deep into Mumbai's business district, time is money.
At the Gateway, people sit for hours gazing at the sea, strolling up and down the promenade, munching on salted peanuts and masala papdi. At Zaveri Bazaar, even tea breaks are spent discussing international gold and silver prices. 'Dhandhe ka time hein baba' is a line that is often used here to shoo away people who do not mean business.
Both places bustle with people through the day and late into the evening. It is good for business. At the Gateway, tourist photographers hunt for people who wish to take a piece of the monument home -- framed or laminated. Snack stalls, balloon sellers, fortune tellers, beggars... they all feed on the crowds.
More and more people flock to Zaveri Bazaar's maze of streets because there are more and more people there to strike deals with.
But there is also a new tribe of people who look at these crowds with greater lust than any businessman. They do not want to get friendly with you, they don't even want you to see them. Striking a deal with you is the last thing on their minds. They trade in terror and pay in death.
On August 25, 2003, four of them arrived in two taxis -- MH02-R-2022 at the Gateway and MH02-R-4421 at Zaveri Bazaar -- a few minutes past 1pm and scarred the two faces of Mumbai forever.
Text: Pankaj Upadhyaya | Design: Rahil Shaikh
Photographs: AFP/Getty Images, Jewella C Miranda