When will mummy return home, asks 10-year-old

A week before the Ganesh festival, 35-five-year-old Sunita Salunkhe was "very excited" as she had planned to celebrate the event like never before.

A week before the Ganesh festival, 35-five-year-old Sunita Salunkhe was 8220;very excited8221; as she had planned to celebrate the event like never before. 8220;My wife had been working for a year8230;because of which our financial condition had improved. So we had to decide to celebrate the Ganesh festival by refurbishing the house,8221; says 40-year-old Kisan Salunkhe, a waiter with the officers8217; mess quarters located inside the Army compound at Dapodi.

The Salunkhe family8217;s dream of celebrating the festival came crashing as the fire at Bhosari8217;s Sai Industries claimed the life of Sunita. She along with her five other colleagues died in the smoke-filled bathroom of the company. Sunita is survived by her husband and three children 8212; Pooja 17, Poonam 11 and Praveen 10. She and Namrata Suryavanashi, who also stays at the officers8217; mess quarters, used to leave for work together and most of them also returned home together. Both of them died in the tragedy.

According to her family members, on that fateful day, Namrata was not ready to go to work but Salunkhe apparently told her that since Thursday anyways was holiday, there was no point in taking two consecutive offs. Many times, especially towards the end of the month, both Namrata and Sunita walked home in Dapodi all the way from Landewadi. It took them two and half hours. Both of them wanted to save every penny for their families, says relatives.

8220;Since we were refurbishing the house, my wife told me that I can do whatever was possible and she will do the rest of the work on Thursday. Before leaving the house in the morning, she told me that she will return home early in evening,8221; recalls Kisan Salunkhe. But that was not to be as he received a call the evening that his wife has been badly injured in the fire. When Salunkhe reached the spot, Sunita had already been suffocated to death.

Kisan Salunkhe says of his three children, 10-year-old Praveen keeps asking,8221;Aai kadhi ghari yenaar?8221; When will mummy return home?. 8220;Even 11-year-old Pooja pesters me8230;she also wants to know when her mother will return home from work,8221; says Salunkhe, who has been working as a waiter with the officers8217; mess quarters for 20 years now.

The three children are currently at their native place at Kupwad in Sangli district. Kisan Salunkhe had married Sunita 11 years back after the death of his first wife in an 8220;accident.8221; 8220;Tragedies have been a part of my life8230;I had lost my father when I was still in diapers, then my mother died. My first wife died after the birth of the eldest daughter.8221; A visibly shaken Salunkhe says,8221;For last two months, I was already under tension as my health has deteriorated. And now this big blow.8221;

Salunkhe says he wouldn8217;t have allowed his wife to work if he knew what the company dealt in. 8220;Both of us wanted to our children to pursue good education. Since was I earning only around Rs 3000 which was not enough for a family of five, I allowed Sunita to work.8221; Salunkhe is now waiting for the compensation amount, which, he says will help in his children8217;s education.