"What else, but our fate," said the relative of a pilot who perished when a King Air C90 crashed in Mumbai's densely-populated Ghatkopar locality last Thursday. If the death of pilots, crew and a pedestrian was their fate, many residents too were profuse in thanking their own kismet; "It was our fate that the aircraft did not crashland on our building," said a friend, whose building stands right in the approach route hundreds of big planes take daily.

The scare from the skies has always been there in the area that is so full of life, thanks to a certain business community that believes in living life king size. But after a fateful Thursday, it's no longer a mere scare for them. The fear of reoccurrence may not allow them to heal as easily.