Security and the Mother Country

It is quite difficult to describe this country's reaction to the recent terror attacks in Mumbai. Of course there is anger, and mourning, as you would expect but it is the response in terms of increased security that baffles me most.
As I said earlier, there is a policeman outside my hotel with a bolt loading rifle. Nothing unusual in that given what has happened (although my money would be on the guy with the AK47 sub-machine gun if it came down to a 'who can get the most shots off' competition!), but he was not there when I arrived Sunday morning, even though that was some 3 days after the attacks began. He was not there when I woke up sunday afternoon either....in fact, he did not arrive until around 3pm that afternoon.
In addition to him there has been other measures put in place, albeit very very gradually.
By Monday night they had installed a walk-through metal detector outside the main door. This works in tandem with the wands the security guards wave over you and your luggage every time you enter the hotel.
On Tuesday morning I noticed the collection of sandbags that had been placed to the left of the lobby to form a sort of gun emplacement, the like of which you would expect to find in the desert army barracks of Iraq or Afghanistan. Upon my return from work these had been built up sufficiently to allow those behind it to stand up.
It is difficult to decipher however, if this steady increase in security is a result of some perceived threat level, to make the tourists and businessmen feel better, or simply a snail's pace response to last weeks events. If the latter is true then it is simply more evidence of the Indian mentality of "manana" that is seem to guide everyone in what they do out here.
One can't help but be aware of what has happened. It is on every one of the news channels out here, and covers at least the first 6-8 pages of the newspaper that comes under my door each morning. The good news for me is that my hotel is so far away from both the tourist and business areas of Hyderabad that it is unlikely to be of any interest to any self-respecting terrorist keen to make an impact.
Today, 2nd Dec, one of my younger Indian colleagues was talking to me about how I was finding it out here. I explained how so much of it was different for me, but that I was enjoying it, and we shared a joke or two about the standards of driving out here (compared to the UK). He then said something which astounded me, "you will get used to it here, after all you are from the mother country". Mother Country? It was these words that knocked me sideways. This guy was only in his twenties I would guess and India earned independence in 1948, how is it that some Indian's (as I arrogantly assume he is not alone in these sentiments) still maintain this idea? I had not entertained any thoughts of our colonolial past and was actually quite embarrassed. We certainly were not the great benefactors, doing the Indian people a huge favour, as we like to portray ourselves were we?
Coming back to the security question (or at least how seriously the man outside my hotel with the gun is taking it) this has just been answered by the image I saw of him scratching between the cheeks of his arse with the rifle of his gun. I hope he had the safety catch on.......