Mumbai blast rocks Bengal villages

KOLKATA: When 17-year-old Ananda De left for Mumbai with his maternal uncle seven months ago, family members thought he would be back soon.
However, the Class IX student of the Siakhala Beni Madhab High School in Hooghly called home a few days later to say he wished to stay back in Mumbai and learn the craft of a jewellery artisan in Zaveri Bazaar.
His body will be flown back to Kolkata on Wednesday morning.
Ananda was one of the many teenagers from villagers in Hooghly and Howrah who left for Mumbai''s thriving jewellery industry in Zaveri Bazaar in search of riches.
Several of them are now either dead or battling for their lives in Mumbai hospitals in the aftermath of Monday''s blast.
On Tuesday, grief-stricken residents in Siakhala, Hooghly, crowded around the De residence.
"The last time Ananda called up home was during Rakhi Purnima. On Monday, after getting information about the blast, we immediately called up Ananda''s uncle''s shop. We were told that Ananda was safe and had gone to the market. Later in the night, we received information of his death," neighbour Montu Nandi said.
"Ananda''s mother Shyamali suffers from diabetes. His father Sanjib has a broken hand and survived a mild stroke a few months ago. His seven-year-old sister Tia is unable to comprehend the loss," he said.
Laltu Ghosh, 17, of neighbouring Langalpara is luckier. He was injured in the blast and has been admitted to Mumbai''s J J Hospital.
"He is badly injured but out of danger. We got to know about his condition this morning," said Laltu''s brother Tapan.
Tapan Das of Howrah left for Mumbai in 1985. After learning stone-setting and diamond-cutting in Zaveri Bazaar, he was planning to start his own unit back home at Domjur, Howrah.
His brother is now preparing to bring back Tapan''s body from Mumbai.
Tapan''s mother Bechabala was on tenterhooks about the condition of her two sons, both of whom worked in Mumbai.
Finally, it was her younger son Rabin who called on Tuesday morning to break the news of his brother''s death.
"Both brothers worked in Mumbai and had started their own business. They saved up to built this house and were planning to come back and start their own business here," said Tapan''s cousin Dipu.
A few kilometres away, Surajit Sashmal''s father Hrishikesh was speechless.
On Tuesday morning, he got news from the president of the Zaveri Bazaar Bengali Association president of his son''s death.
The body was identified from the ring on Surajit''s finger. "He was to return home during Diwali for his sister''s wedding. What did we do to deserve this?" asked a sobbing Hrishikesh.