Days after militant attacks killed 183 people in India's financial capital, residents are hitting the gym, calling their psychiatrists and nervously making plans to meet friends to help relieve stress.

Offices and schools in Mumbai opened on Monday, and several were offering counseling sessions to help overcome the shock of hearing gunfire and blasts in their neighbourhoods, or seeing graphic images on TV or in newspapers.

"My first class yesterday was absolutely packed," said Namita Jain, who runs aerobics and yoga classes near the luxury Taj Mahal hotel, where commandos on Saturday finally gunned down the last of four militants who besieged it for three days.

On Tuesday, Jain's yoga class was nearly full, with regulars exchanging notes on people they knew and making tentative plans to meet for lunch or tea.

"People had been sitting at home glued to their television sets all these days, and they wanted to get out, and in some way get back to life," she said

The Taj Mahal hotel and the Trident-Oberoi hotel, where gunmen held guests and employees hostage, are offering counselling support to their employees also.

"There's definitely more people seeking help for stress, panic, depression, insomnia," said Harish Shetty, a psychiatrist. "Children don't want to go to school, people want to stay indoors and not go out much."

The impact of the horrific attack was not limited to Mumbai. In New Delhi, Sanjeev Gopalakrishan said his 10-year-old son was having difficulty coming to grips with the attacks.

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