Mumbai, India is a city of 18 million people and many visitors. A place where the Jews have lived for over 2000 years without feeling any kind of threat, where we have lived and flourished. We have grown with the city and the city has grown with us.

Jews here will never forget the time they spent with Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg at the Shabbat table in the Chabad House. Rabbi Gavriel and his wife Rivkah touched the lives of countless strangers that became guests, and new friends who quickly became old friends. During the terror attack the Rabbi, his family and guests were held hostages in the Chabad House. The nanny was told to take Moshe, the Rabbi’s son, to the ground floor as he had been crying continuously. The commandos, who had already started their operation, got them both out of the house. The nanny immediately took the Rabbi’s son to Sharon’s house. Sharon Galsurkar, a Jewish educator from Mumbai, took classes every Sunday at The Magen David Synagogue in Byculla along with the rabbi.

Moshe lost his parents the same week he turned two. We lost our Rabbi, his wife, the couples who were visiting the Chabad house, and many citizens of India. Rabbi Holtzberg came to Mumbai to bring light into our lives, leaving behind all the comforts he and his family could have had in the US. It was a shock when a member of the media mentioned that the Chabad house had given shelter to the terrorists. Ezra Moses, the secretary of the Thane synagogue, took upon himself and called them up to ask: “If a robber enters your house and holds a gun to your head, what option do you have?” Although this was corrected and we never heard it again, this was the first time we felt targeted.

Moses Pugawkar, the only Jewish fire fighter in Mumbai, had been working day and night. Although he was at the rescue operations of the Taj and Oberoi hotels, he wished he could have been at the Nariman House with all the Jews. These have been long, difficult days for my aunt and my family trying to reach him continuously on phone, hearing the blasts, fearing one of our dear ones could be next.

Mumbai survived terror attacks that continued for two and a half days, but at the cost of 195 innocent lives lost and over 300 people injured. And to hear that the RAW Research and Analysis Wing, the Indian Intelligence Agency had actually alerted the government to the possibility of such an attack frustrates all of us even further.

We feel betrayed by our own democracy. As I watch the debates going on around the world, I knew this would change our system. Politicians have voluntarily resigned, a few have been asked to step down. The citizens now demand that their taxes be used for tackling bigger problems. So much so that many people also feel each citizen should serve one year of military service. Mumbai has survived terror attacks before. The Mumbai spirit is strong. The city will change, but what’s the cost?

If I have a message to send, it’s this: the citizens of Mumbai send our message to the world: Don’t mistake our resilience for inaction.

Lucy completed her engineering degree, and currently works as a Software Engineer at an IT Consulting firm. Born and raised in India, Lucy has traveled, met and worked with Jews from all over the world.