They were parents, siblings, sons, daughters, friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbours. And they were killed, injured, bruised in Mumbai on Terror Tuesday.
Do YOU know anyone who is a victim of the Mumbai attack? Do YOU know anyone who lost his/her life, or was injured in the seven blasts that ripped through seven trains on Terror Tuesday?
Have you been to any hospital where the injured are being treated? Do you know anyone who needs help?
Write about him or her as a Citizen Journalist, and let the world know about who bore the brunt of the mindless, dastardly attack on the financial capital of India.
Let them know how kind, ordinary people were the targets.
Please mention the victim's full name and locality, so that your fellow readers can reach out to help, if need be.
Be a Citizen Journalist, let us know by clicking here
Earlier Rediff Citizen Journalists' Reports: Terror Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday
Hi,
This is the story of a young man who just got a promotion, just got married (to the girl he was in love with for the last eight years), just applied for a house loan, just enrolled for an MBA (he was carrying the cheque to pay his fees while the terrorists struck him dead).
His Name, Swapnil Oke, 27, resident of Nalasopara. He was killed in the Mahim blast.
Before leaving the office, he called up his wife, as usual, and asked her if he can come and pick her up. She regrets saying "No" that day.
When we got no calls from him until late night we searched for him in the hospitals. We found his body at Bhagwati Hospital.
Since the news struck his wife Swapnaja, she faints every now and then, and refuses to go the doctor, and sits besides his clothes and a photograph, sobbing inconsolably. So does his mother. His father has turned into a stone.
All their hopes, their young son, have gone.
This is what they call jihad. What the hell.
And our government is busy taking back court-trials from the convicts in 1993 blasts under the able governance of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Sameer, Mumbai
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I have been in Dubai for the past three years now. I read about the blast on the Internet. I tried calling home to my folks back home in Dahisar but could not reach them. After five hours of continuous trying I got through to my brother Caiyn Cardoz he told me they were safe but my dad's close friend Sanford Desailes has not reached home, nor has he contactd his wife. I admired Sanford Uncle for his good humour, loving and down-to-earth nature. He has always been there for my father through all good and bad times.
Next day, my father told me Sanford Uncle is dead and they have found his mutilated body at the KEM Hospital.
I don't know what will be going through's his daughter Alisha's mind. She is just 9 years old. She and here father were really close. I hope the Mumbai police catch those monsters who have planted the bomb and destroyed many families. May Sanford Uncle's soul rest in peace. My prayers and deepest sympathy to Janet, Alisha and Sanford's parents, brothers, friends.
Caryn Cardoz, Dubai
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As I was driving home thru the busy streets in Delhi came my sister's frantic call from Kolkata about the Mumbai blasts and the high alert in Delhi. She was not able to contact any of her friends. Within seconds of reaching of home I found myself gasping at the horrifying sights from the various news channels.
I started dialling all my friends and colleagues in Mumbai one by one. But it was useless. All cell phones seemed dead. I SMS-ed each one; no delivery report came back. Thinking of alternative options I SMS-ed NDTV: 'Amit, Shailesh, Gautam, Abhay, Babu, Amitava not able to contact u guys please let me know that u all r safe.'
No reply came from anyone till 10 pm. First one to call me back was Amitava who said he could just manage to reach home safely. Other SMS-es followed, stating all were safe and had reached back home with great difficulty. I was relieved but suddenly it struck me whenever I tried Babu Ray's mobile it said switched off.
A silent prayer came out from within. Next day early in the morning I tried Babu again all set to start off with the choicest of abuses -- 'How the hell could u switch off your mobile knowing about the disaster and that so many people would be trying to reach you?.' But his mobile was still switched off.
This time cursed myself. His wife who has recently shifted to Mumbai also had a new number, which I did not know. Except keeping my fingers crossed I could not think of anything else. Throughout the day I tried several ways to contact him but somehow it seemed impossible all means failed as he has just shifted to Mumbai from Kolkata and was in the process of settling down.
Just when I was about to lose hope came a call from one of our common friends in Patna who had heard from one of his colleague's relative in Mumbai that Babu was seriously injured and was in Bed No. 1 of the ICU at Nanavati Hospital.
Web sites, yellow pages every source of information was pulled down and finally we could reach his boss at Associated Capsules who confirmed the news about his injury. Babu is still unconscious, with splinters all across his face, chest and body.
Can anybody tell me why were he and others just like him on their way back home targeted like this so brutally?
Let me tell all those screwed up souls who are generally termed as "terrorists" by the world: You are nothing but cowards of the first order.
Who the hell is your enemy? These ordinary unsuspecting, innocent bunch of people in the street?
Nirmalya, Delhi
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Although I have never met him, when I found out that my cousin Tejas Shah, who had got married two years ago and just became a father, died in the Mumbai bomb blasts, I was terrified, and my heart broke. His daughter is fatherless, his wife is now a widow. He was only 26, with so much to look forward to in his new life. The blast threw him 21 feet away from the train, and his body was found after many hours. Living as far as we do from Mumbai, we feel the pain, and the sorrow. Our heart goes out to all the victims of this tragedy.
Tejas Shah was an officer at a pharmacy, and lived by the Jain Temple in Bhayander.
A Shah, California
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I have been talking to Yeshwant Bedekar, who live in Malad, over phone for the past few months. Every time the call would end with statements like: 'Kabhi Milte hai yar (Let's meet up, buddy).' The irony was, I met him in the mortuary of KEM hospital the day after the blasts. I've understood one thing: This life is very short, though it may look long. So, live life to the fullest. Meet friends whenever you feel like. Don't put it off for the next day.
Radhakrishnan, Mumbai
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This story is of Mr B K Ray who is my friend fighting for his life in Nanavati hospital.
He had shifted to Mumbai from Kolkata five months back. He is 38 years old, working for Associated Capsules. He was very happy to be in Mumbai. On the day of the blasts, he had gone to Dadar to meet some customers. While coming back he caught the train that blew up between Khar and Santa Cruz. He was standing in the train when he suddenly he felt some electric short circuit had happened after which he got unconscious. He was taken to Cooper Hospital by some volunteers. There was no space in the hospital and he was lying in the floor. One of the doctors examined him and requested one of the volunteers to shift him to Nanavati Hospital because of lack of space. He was critical.
Hats off to the Mumbaikars -- the person who took him to Nanavati Hospital didn't even know him. There are demons who kill people only for their religious madness and on other side there are god's disciples who save people. Ray was admitted to Nanavati where he gained consciousness and he gave a friend's number because of which we all came to know about him.
All of B K Ray's friends are praying for his speedy recovery. And we are ready to fight terrorism not by bombs but by dialogues
Prajwal S Kumar, Kandivli
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I heard about the blast when I was returning from my Andheri office. I didn't know how to react. The first thing I could do was to try and ensure all my loved ones were safe. Thankfully the networks were working that time.
Next day, on my way to office -- though a little late from the usual time -- I stopped by our local shop to refill my mobile and got the news that our family doctor Mr Girish Parmanand died in the blast near Khar.
I just couldn't believe my ears. He has his own dispensary in Goregaon East. He has devoted 40 years and more of his life serving people in this area, most of them without any fees or visiting charges. I and my family members knew him since the time my dad and his parents came to live in Goregaon and my dad was in his early teens.
Over the years our family and many others have never been to any other doctor. After I started working I met him very few times, but whenever we met, he would be full of laughter and encouraging words. He was a noble, peace-loving, kind-hearted and generous man.
The people who did this should die a gruesome, brutal death.
Remona, Goregaon
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Our marketing manager Sandeep Bhosle was in the train that blew up at Mahim. He is survived by his wife, one adopted girl and two girls of his own. The three are aged 10 years, 5 years and one-and-a-half years.
When I went to attend his funeral and later on at his house to express our condolence (me and four South Koreans and 12 Indians -- all colleagues) we could not get the right words to express our sympathy -- seeing the tiny tots and the future that awaits them. Lalu Prasad Yadav has promised Rs 500,000 plus jobs in Indian Railways for the next of kin. But as usual, no one can predict when they will be the recipients of the promised monetary assistance. Our company is doing something to help the family tide over the immediate financial crisis
Regardless of money, job, etc, what the family lost due to no fault of theirs is the biggest factor compounding the bereaved family and no amount of talk about destiny, etc will serve any purpose.
Sandeep, on that fateful day, left office 15 minutes earlier than the normal 6 pm closure.
God must have wanted it that way, to call Sandeep by His side. What else to say?
He was such a nice gentleman that he joined Hyundai even while studying his final year BCom and he ended up as Manager (Marketing), Oil and Gas. Always helpful to others to the extent possible of him, he never had any quarrel with anyone. Even many of the ONGC people who know him could not believe when told that Sandeep is no more.
Perpetrators of this heinous crime will not go unpunished, but that is a latter issue to be tackled by the government and law enforcing authorities. But who will compensate for his life?
C V R Iyer, Mumbai
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I attended the funeral of Mr Mohan at Vasai. He was working in Western Railway, Churchgate. I also visited Mr Vijay Kumar at Kalpana Lifeline Hospital at Vasai. He was shifted from Bhagavati Hospital, Borivli.
Prakashan P K, Mumbai
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