The Mumbai attacks are being described by Indian-American New Yorkers as having much in common with the 9/11 attacks — an assault on a particularly modern, cosmopolitan, open-minded city that is tolerant of cultural differences.

I spoke today with Ralph D’ Souza, a New Yorker who spent the first 35 years of his life in Bombay. He is president of the India Center of Westchester, a cultural organization that brings together families from different parts of India.

“Bombay is very New York-ish — a very open society and people of international origins from all over the place move around freely,” he said (using Mumbai’s former name). “In a free society like this, it’s appalling something of this sort should happen. It’s so much akin to what’s happened here from 9/11 and prior to that. … Hopefully they’ll take a lesson from this and be much more alert and conscious and aware of these things.”

D’Souza said he grew up as part of the 2 percent of the Indian population that is Christian. He works as a pension fund consultant here in the United States. The local India Center (see their web site here) is a very lively place with instruction in music, dance, Sanskrit, yoga and other activities out of a building on Route 9A in Elmsford.

D’Souza says he’s hopeful that the international community, including India, Pakistan and the United States, can work together to fight violent extremists.

“They should at least have common goals. Whatever your political affiliations are, whatever your views are in all the controversial issues between India and Pakistan, this is absolutely an unacceptable response… to slaughter innocent people of every dimension.”