Blast snatches away the breadwinner

He toiled hard to buy a house of his own, but the bomb shattered his dream

Rajesh Khedekar. Photo: Special Arrangement

A room of his own was all he wanted. A room he could call home. Eking out a modest living, Rajesh Khedekar, 28, saved small sums over the years to realise his housing dream. Married one-and-a-half years ago, Rajesh lived in a rented accommodation in suburban Goregaon.

But Wednesday's high intensity blast at Zaveri Bazaar here, where he worked delivering jewellery on foot, blew up his dream. He died on the spot, leaving everyone in the family in shock.

“The family hails from Raigad district, where it owns some farmland. Rajesh's wife and child had come from the village to stay with him only a month ago. Everything was fine. The only thing on his agenda was buying a house. He had seen a few places at Virar [a suburb in Thane] and was planning to take a loan from his employer,” Rakesh Khedekar, Rajesh's cousin, told

The Hindu . But that was not to be.

“Both his legs were gone in the blast. One leg was hanging from the body and one hand was burnt. He must have been thrown high up in the air in the impact of the explosion.” said Rakesh.

“The body was identified in hospital with the identity card in his pocket. I took it straight to the village in Raigad for cremation.”

“Good-natured”

Rakesh says Rajesh was a “good natured person, respectful of elders and he played very good cricket.” He clocked 11 hours a day, delivering jewellery — a job he had been doing since 2003. It earned him a Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 7,000 a month.

“He was the main earning member; a big support for the family. With his passing, the family's finances will suffer,” said Rakesh.

Rajesh's wife Rashmi Khedekar and child Raj have gone back to Raigad to live with his parents. The family is trying to come to come to terms with the loss. A loss which his son is too little to understand.