‘He never returned to his Bhayander home’

MUMBAI: Parag Sawant’s family will always have one regret—that he could never return to his Bhayander home after the July 11, 2006, train blast, which confined him to a bed in Hinduja Hospital.
Parag lost his battle for life on Tuesday. His mother Madhuri, who spent every single day and several nights at the hospital, was seen at her Bhayander home only on weekends.“She literally lived in the hospital. She used to even bathe there. She was confident of returning home with her son,” said a relative.
The entire family made daily trips to the hospital in Mahim from Bhayander.
On Tuesday, Madhuri returned home alone. When Parag had come out of his coma in 2008, he had uttered the word ‘aai’ (mother). Since then, Madhuri kept giving hope to her family and friends that he would come home.
On Tuesday, Parag’s one-bedroom flat in the four-storey Ramabai apartment, Goddev Road, Bhayander (East), was filled with relatives who had gathered to console Madhuri and his widow Priti (see pic). She was two months pregnant when the bombs went off. Priti sat in a corner with daughter Prachiti, a Class IV student. Prachiti, who had always seen her father in hospital, kept asking her grandmother about his health. She had only recently begun to understand how her father had landed in hospital.
Priti, who got a job with Western Railway, managed to complete her Class XII. She appeared for an internal exam and works in the operations department.
Priti and Parag had a love marriage. They lived separately for a while as his parents were initially opposed to it. But the couple soon moved into the family home.
A friend, Bhushan Tambat (35), remembered that Parag used to participate in all festivals, be it Ganesh Chathurti or Dahi Handi. Around 50 of his colony friends returned early from office. They were engaged in making his final journey memorable. Posters saluting Parag for his fighting spirit were put up in the area. His brother Pratik who works in Bombay High will fly home on Wednesday. The cremation will be held at 11.30am.
On that fateful day in 2006, while Parag was grievously injured, his friend Raj Pandey, from the same colony, survived as he was in another coach. A friend, Ajay Sharma (31), said Raj soon shifted out.