On the day of the monstrous attack, Shirish was in his Bandra, northwest Mumbai, home, when his wife called him from Pune.
"She told me that there was some sort of firing at CST (Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus). She said it looked like a gang war. My first question to her was, 'Is he there?' She said she would call back in five minutes. When she did, it was to tell me that she has just seen him on television -- he was there. I was like, 'I knew it!' I know his nature -- I just knew he would be there in no time."
"He was never afraid for his life before duty. When I saw the news flash on television that he had been injured, I rushed to the JJ Hospital. I asked them where Hemant was -- if he was in the ICU. The fellow I was talking to simply shook his head. But I was not prepared to believe him."
"I shouted and demanded to talk to the doctor. I had to see for myself. So they took me in to see his body... and I was just shocked. I mean, I had spoken to him earlier the same day, and he wanted me to come to his house in the evening."
Now, of course, three months from that fateful day, things have changed for the family.
Shirish Karkare says he abhors the thought of continuing to live in Mumbai. "Every day I wake up in the morning and think, 'Another day in the city where I lost my brother.' He was a father figure to me -- I think of him every single day. It's a wound that can never be healed."
Image: Hemant Karkare, right, with his younger brothers, Shirish, centre, and Pravin.
Also see: 'Karkare was very friendly to students'
Advertisement
