On Monday, Mumbai commemorated four years of 26/11 with speeches and homilies and the kind of rituals that India is famous for. The security measures we have managed to implement since that day are also largely limited to speeches and rituals. On ground, little has been done to prevent another 26/11.

The rumours started on Wednesday evening, and spread through the city of 20 million in quiet messages and hushed asides: Balasaheb Thackeray, the leader of the Shiv Sena, was dying.

For an Indian, going to America for the first time is an adventure even in these days of superfast air travel. Thankfully, one no longer has to spend a lifetime en route, but there are issues. The price of the ticket and the muscularity of the dollar are the tag team that knock out most plans. Then there’s the visa.

Dhoble. Till a month ago, it would have been an unremarkable name. Now, it’s a word that every pub-goer in Mumbai jumps to.

I had heard endless rumours of Mumbai’s cosmopolitan character, so the question took me by surprise. “You’re Hindu?” the broker suddenly asked.