13/7 triple blasts, one year on
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For many July 13 is just another date on the calendar. For some others it is etched as a day when they lost someone close.
On this day last year blasts went off in three of Mumbai's most crowded localities, killing 26 people and injuring 130.
A year on, the blasts are forgotten and the life in the metropolis has moved on at the fast pace as it usually does.
A year on, rediff.com correspondents walk down the memory lane with survivors and re-live the fateful evening that was smeared with blood, agony and fear.
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'The value of life is only 2, 4 lakhs in India'
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A year after her husband Mukesh died in the bomb blast in Mumbai, Sheela Seth and her nine-year-old son Mohit confront grief and an uncertain future.
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Image: Sheela Seth lost her husband in one of the triple bomb blasts in Mumbai on July 13, 2011
Photographs: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
'What is there to tell? We are just another family'
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Bhupatbhai Navadiya died in the Opera House blast in Mumbai on July 13 last year.
His family is trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on.
Click HERE to read Navadiya's story
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13/7 took away his legs, but not his will to stand again
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Namdev Narayan Dhulup was a peon in a diamond broker's office at the Opera House area for ten years.
On that fateful evening, Namdev was standing on the road as usual hoping that some business would came his way before it was time to go home. But what came his way was the terrible blast -- which happened right next to him -- and changed his life forever.
Click HERE to read a determined Namdev's story
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'If I spend Rs 300 on tablets alone, how do I live?'
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Khar resident Vinod Shukla's only source of livelihood was lost forever in the blast near Opera House.
The 15 tablets that he has to take daily cost Rs 300. So he deliberately skips the medication some days.
Click HERE to read Shukla's story
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Image: Vinod Shukla with his family
'Our lives are wrapped in time bombs'
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For a city that has been bombed, wounded and injured by terrorism of some form at least once every year, people react with the same angst and cynicism because they don't know whom to blame. In less than a week, people are rebuilding their lives to be back to business and make up for the losses of forcefully staying out of work.
People living in Zaveri Bazaar, who remember the blast, say not much has changed since the blast struck the area.
Click HERE to read what they have to say
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Image: Taiyyab Nishanwala, owner of SuperTools in Khau Galli. The first blast took place right outside his shop
Photographs: Divya Nair/Rediff.com
Can you find a job for this 13/7 widow?
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Sarika Jain lost her husband in the 13/7 blast.
With two small children and ailing in-laws, Sarika is desperate for a job to sustain her family.
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Photographs: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
He still takes tablets worth Rs 50 a day
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Ramlal Musai Yadav was lucky to survive the blast, but was badly injured thereby preventing him from going to work.
But now he wants to get back to work to help his wife, who has been supporting the family with her meager income.
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Image: Ramlal Musai Yadav with his children
Photographs: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com
'What's the point of writing about us? No one cares'
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Diamond trader Chadrakant Wanker was killed in the blast at Opera House.
Resigned to fate and hopes of help, his family is still at loss of words to describe the tragedy.
Click HERE to read how the Wankers are coping with the tragedy
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Photographs: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com
'I feel handicapped with guilt and debt'
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On July 13, 2011, Bapi Motilal Khetu had barely sat down at a shop in Khau Galli in Zaveri Bazaar locality of Mumbai when a bomb placed in a Honda Activa scooter exploded.
A year later, he is scared of leaving his home and complains that life will never be the same for him
Click HERE to read his story
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Photographs: Divya Nair/Rediff.com
'Govt must give me a job or pay for treatment'
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For Dadar resident Varsha Karia, the scars on her still-healing left arm are an unsightly reminder of the July 13 blast.
She was on her way home from work with a friend when a bomb went off near Kabootarkhana in Dadar, Central Mumbai. While her friend got away with a few scratches, Karia's injuries were far worse.
Click HERE to read Varsha's story
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Photographs: Nishi Tiwari/Rediff.com
'We tried to talk her into getting remarried but she isn't open to the idea'
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Mankeshwar Vishwakarma went to Dadar to buy material for a new carpentry job he'd been assigned.
He never returned home.
A year later, his wife Rinku is struggling really hard to stay in the metropolis, but she simply cannot manage.
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Image: Rinku at the Equus office
Photographs: Abhishek Mande/Rediff.com
'Why do you want to chronicle traumatised lives?'
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A year after Tushar Gangaram Kolbe, 28, died in the triple blasts, life has slowly gone from bad to worse for his bereaved mother, his unstable elder brother, Tushar's widow Tanuja and his father who shifted to Sanderi, their hometown in Alibaug after his son's death.
Click HERE to read how the Kolbes are unable to come to terms with their loss
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Image: Tushar's mother standing under the portraits of her dead daughter and son Tushar
Photographs: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
'Why does the media come to remind us of our sorrow?'
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The Sonis lost their 21-year-old son in the Zaveri Bazaar bomb blast
Dilip Kumar Soni and his wife have lived the last 12 months in mourning -- with memories, pain and disbelief
Picking up the pieces of life and moving on hasn't been easy for the couple and their two other kids, 15-year-old Dakshita and 13-year-old Vipul.
Click HERE to read their story
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Image: Pankaj Soni
Photographs: Norma Godinho/Rediff.com
A year on, confusion prevails over relief
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For, the Jaiswals life came to a standstill on the evening of July 13, 2011.
The family lost its sole breadwinner Arun Chotelal Jaiswal at Zaveri Bazaar in the triple blasts that rocked Mumbai killing 26 people. A paanwala, he is survived by his ageing parents, wife and son.
A year on, not much has changed for the family.
Click HERE to read about the Jaiswals
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Image: Policemen surround a vehicle which was damaged at the site of an explosion
Prompt reaction by Mumbai police minimised damage
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In the three blasts that rocked Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri Bazaar, 26 people were killed.
But the toll would have been higher if not for the timely help provided by the policemen and public that day.
Click HERE to read how Mumbai Police acted promptly on July 13, 2011
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