Mumbai’s healing touch

‘My wife has given birth to a boy. But I haven’t met them. We are in different hospitals’

From his room on the ninth floor of Bombay Hospital, Rajendra Chawan, 34, looks at the South Mumbai skyline and the dome of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Chawan, an employee with a private security firm posted at the hotel, was not on duty when the terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal Hotel on November 26. But the following day, when he reported to work, helping NSG commandos clear the hotel, a bullet hit him. “Though they are telling me I will get my job back, I don’t know if I will be able to work as a security guard. I have a bullet injury and a fracture because of which I can barely stand. It has to heal completely before I get back to my 9-to-5 job,” says Chawan.

But he’s looking forward to returning home, especially since his wife Rashmi gave birth to a boy last weekend. “I haven’t seen my wife or child. I was not even there. We are in different hospitals,” said Chawan.

His joy at his son’s birth is tempered by concern over the uncertain future. He is not even sure he will be able to bear the medical expenses after he is discharged from hospital. Now, he’s resting all his hopes on a visit by Ratan Tata, managing director of Tata group, and his words of encouragement.

Anamika Gupta

‘My beauty parlour will have to wait for a while’

“I have four holes in my stomach. Who will marry me?” jokes 28-year-old Anamika Gupta. She was one of the first to be hit by terrorists at Leopold Cafe. “Jab maut likhi to mar jayenge, unke (terrorists) haat se nahi likhi hai meri maut,” says Anamika. But she can’’t forget that terrible night.

“Four of us had gone to Leopold’s for dinner. As soon as we had placed our order, we heard gunshots. Initially we thought it was some gang war but later realised that they were targeting us. One of the terrorists trained his gun on me and fired four bullets. As soon as his cartridge got over, we ran past him,” remembers Gupta, a beautician who lives in Colaba. She walked for over two hours that day, asking for help until a social worker brought her to St George Hospital, from where she was shifted to JJ Hospital.

Her operation was successful but doctors have asked Gupta to rest for another eight months. Gupta is upset that she missed her brother’s wedding in Varanasi a week ago. “I lost my father when I was a child. My brother raised me. I should have been there at his wedding,” she says.

Gupta would have started her own beauty parlour if only the attack hadn’t cut short her dreams. “I have been saving money to realise my dream. This season’s earnings would have been my last installment but I will have to wait longer now,” says Gupta. But her plans have only been postponed, she says, not cancelled.

Ramzan Sherif

‘I don’t know if my new employers in Riyadh will wait for me. Maybe there is something better in store’

Ramzan Sherif was preparing to fly to Saudi Arabia to take up a job as an accountant. It was time for thanksgiving and the 23-year-old and his family decided to pay a visit to the Bande Nawaz dargah at Gulbarga in Karnataka. As they were waiting for their train at CST station, the terrorists began firing and one of the bullets hit Sherif’s grandfather. “I asked a few policemen to rescue him but they told me to run for my life. When there was no firing for 10 minutes, I came out of my hideout. But the terrorist was behind me and shot at me twice,” recalls Sherif. Three weeks later, Sherif is all set to go home but he’s not sure if the job in Riyadh would wait for him. “I was promised a salary of Rs 35,000 but this was destined to happen. Though I have asked my employers in Riyadh for more time, I am not sure anyone will wait for three to four months,” says Sherif. “Maybe there’s something better for me in store.”

Arun Jadhav

‘As soon as my arm is fit enough to lift a gun, I will be back at work’ Assistant police inspector Arun Jadhav was the only one who survived the attack outside Cama Hospital that killed Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar. “Someone up there was looking after me,” says Jadhav, clutching a locket.

Having seen the terrorists attack and kill his boss Vijay Salaskar, Jadhav is determined to get back to his job at the Mumbai crime branch. “If I am alive today, there has to be a reason behind it. Maybe God wants me to do more in life,” says Jadhav.

As his colleagues and friends surround him, his wife Ashwini looks on attentively. At the slightest wince or move from Jadhav, she comes rushing to his side. Doctors have removed two bullets, but a third is still lodged in his right arm. “As soon as my arm is fit enough to lift a gun, I will be back at work,” says Jadhav. Photo: Mahendra Parikh

Ranjeet Jadhav

‘I have to get back to work. With a job like mine, I will have to be prepared for such situations’

Working with the State Reserve Police Force, Ranjeet Jadhav has been in the midst of some of the worst riots in the state but nothing had prepared him for the Mumbai attack. “This was very different from a riot situation. During a riot, we can see the mob, anticipate and prepare our moves. Here no one knew what was happening. It was an unpredictable situation,” says Jadhav, who has been with the SRPF for 13 years. The company he is attached with is based in Pune but they were called to Mumbai two months ago, after there were fears of unrest following Maharasthra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray’s arrest. On November 26, they were sent to Oberoi Hotel where Jadhav was injured in a grenade blast. “At the end of the day, I have to get back to my job. I can’t be scared of what happened. With a profession like mine, I will have to be prepared for such situations,” says Jhadav.

Poonam and Sachin Singh

‘My wife doesn’t eat before she has made sure Sachin has eaten,’ says Poonam’s husband

Poonam Singh and her six-year-old son Sachin are both in JJ hospital but are yet to meet. They were separated after the CST attack. Poonam and her sons, Sachin and two-year-old Yash, were on their way to Uttar Pradesh when they were caught in the firing. “They shot my mother,” recalls Sachin, “and shot me in my hand.” Both were taken to St George Hospital but were later shifted to JJ Hospital—Poonam to the critical care unit and Sachin to the plastic surgery ward. “My mother is in JJ Hospital,” says Sachin, obviously unaware that he too is in the same hospital. But the mother and son do talk on the phone. Poonam’s husband Santosh says, “Poonam doesn’t eat before she has made sure Sachin has eaten.” Santosh has not been able to join work—he is a senior security officer in a private building in Powai. “I divide my time between my son and wife. My other three kids are with my relatives,” says Santosh. Photo: Ritika Jain

Bharat Navadia

‘My son used to go door-to-door selling clothes. I don’t know if he will be able to do that,’ says Bharat’s father

Recuperating in ward number 13 of JJ hospital, Bharat Navadia has not been told of his wife Poonam’s death. “He saw his wife being shot in the head. The doctors have told us not to break the news to him,” says Shyam Dharamsingh Navadia, Bharat’s father. Bharat had gone to drop Poonam at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Station, from where she was to take a train to Kolkata to nurse her ailing parents. Their children, one-year-old Viraj and three-year-old Anjali, were also injured. An RPF constable had rescued the children and hid them in the police station till the attack ended. The children are out of hospital and back at their Vasai home, in the care of their uncle and aunt. Back at the hospital, Shyam Navadia is worried about his son’s future. “Bharat used to bring cloth from Surat and sell it in Vasai. He used to carry the load and go from house to house to sell it. But now with a shoulder injury, that might not be possible,” he says.