Mumbai bomb leaves mark on SingurDeep down a twisting bylane off the bustling Singur market thoroughfare, the wails of women are like a homing signal leading to the Chatterjee residence.Throughout this middle-income locality, the shock of Mira Chatterjee’s death at the hands of terrorists in Mumbai on Wednesday is yet to wear off. But for the attack at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, Chatterjee would have boarded a Kolkata-bound train early on Thursday morning.Chatterjee, 66, mother of two sons and two daughters, had gone to Mumbai on August 23 to help her elder son Ardhendu — who had lost his job there some years ago — shift back to Singur.“Five of us — my mother, elder brother, his wife and my nephew — were to board the Mumbai-Howrah Gitanjali Express at 6 am,’ Chatterjee’s younger son Purnendu said from Mumbai. As there was a lot of luggage and local trains get crowded in the morning, the family decided to wait the night out at CST. “I made my sister-in-law Shobita and mother comfortable in the waiting room at 6.30 pm, and returned home to get more luggage. A little past nine, my sister-in-law called to inform that Ma had been killed by a blast in the waiting room,” he added.According to Shobita, as they sat in the waiting room, five persons stormed in and began lobbing grenades, one of which landed near a TV set they were bringing back. In a bid to save the TV set, Chatterjee was tugging at it, when the grenade went off, killing her on the spot. “By then, the terrorists had begun firing indiscriminately. I don’t know how I survived. I can clearly remember the faces of at least two of the attackers,” Shobita said.Chatterjee’s cremation will be held in Mumbai. In Singur, her daughters Rupa and Deepali were inconsolable. “My mother wasn’t new to Mumbai. My father had lived there for over a decade till he died three years ago,” said Deepali. “Since Ardhendu had lost his job, my mother wanted everyone to return to the family home and pool our resources together.”After her husband’s death, Chatterjee had moved back to Singur. Her husband, Narayan Chatterjee, a local Congress leader, had gone to Mumbai to support his son financially. Ardhendu was facing bad times, he went to Mumbai to support him.On November 16, Purnendu and her son Shubadeep went to Mumbai to escort her. “Thankfully, not everyone had reached the station, else our losses would have been terrible,” she said. The family had bought tickets under Tatkal, which are now cancelled. “We don’t know how they’ll get more money for fresh tickets, but we want our family members should return home safe and sound as soon as possible,” Deepali said.
