‘German Bakery is not same any more, just another coffee shop’

“I always wondered why he wanted me to collect his award during the convocation. He used to keep telling us that we had to be present in Pune,” recalled Madhu. “Aaj jo jagah hamare ghar mein khali hain woh kabhi nahi bhar payengi. Hamara beta ek heera tha (My son was like a diamond and the emptiness in our house can never be filled),” said the emotional mother when contacted over telephone in Kolkata.

Rajeev’s elder brother Ravi got married last year and sister Radhika is studying for a career as company secretary. Ravi, who stays in Baroda, has decided to never come to Pune. “I lost my brother there. It is not the city or its people but I do not think I can ever go there,” Ravi said.

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Rajeev’s friends who were sitting with him at a table sipping tea when the blast occurred on the fateful day have, however, decided to move on. Sumeet Singh, Rajeev’s senior at Symbiosis, still remembers the day when all of them were sitting in the cafe and planning to attend the law college festival slated for February 13, 2010, at Raga lawns in Koregaon Park.

“I was talking to Rajeev and Abhishek Saxena (who also died in the blast) while our friends Rishabh Agarwal and Vinita Pathak were at the counter paying the bill. Rajeev had just asked me about my work in Mumbai when there was a blast. I lost both Rajeev and Abhishek as we were sitting bang opposite the table where the bag with the bomb was placed,” said Sumeet, who had been hospitalised with several injuries.

Five years later, 30-year-old Sumeet is a senior associate at a top law firm in New Delhi. He refuses to talk about the blast and if anyone questions him about the scars on his hand, he brushes it off as an accident. “I know we have to move on and should not allow one incident to ruin our beautiful college memories. And no, I do not want to go back to German Bakery again as it will be too painful,” he said.

For 29-year-old Rishabh Agarwal, who also survived the blast but was left with an injury in his knee and had to undergo eight surgeries, German Bakery will never be the same any more. “My first visit to the bakery after the blast was a traumatic one. Memories came flooding back and one can never forget the pain. People close to me died. They were horrible deaths but it was important for me to go and see for myself,” recalled Rishabh, who is now a litigation lawyer at a top firm in Mumbai.

To Rishabh though, the old German Bakery brings back some pleasant memories too. “It was a place to unwind. Everybody smiled at each other even at strangers sitting at other tables. It was like a hangout. Today, the new bakery is just like any other coffee shop,” he said.

Symbiosis discontinues scholarship, award instituted in victim’s name

“A memory can often cripple you and we do not want to be haunted by such painful memories any more,” says Dr Shashikala Gurpur, Principal of Symbiosis Law College that has now decided to close the scholarship and award instituted in Rajeev Agarwala’s name.

Symbiosis had instituted an award of Rs 25,000 and a medal that were given to four deserving students with the combined highest marks in company law and taxation. All the batches since 2009-10 have now passed out and the deserving students awarded. Gurpur said the new batch was no longer familiar with the events related to the blast or the students involved.

“According to the human rights charter too, there is an important right that needs to be observed and that is the Right to Forget. We can no longer let the past rule us,” the authorities said while closing the scholarship and the award.