``People are coming from all over. Many of them we do not even know,'' says Shailesh Rathod, the martyr's elder brother, who is now waiting for Mukesh's ashes to arrive.

And it's not a sham. ``Yesterday, there were several people, many of whom were old, who came here, sat, and left with tears in the eyes,'' says Paresh Rathod, another brother of Mukesh. A senior army official who visited the family several times in the past two days consoled Mukesh's mother Samjuben telling her that not every mother had such a brave son.

This morning, some 500 students and teachers of Gandhi Vidyalaya, Sharda Vidyalaya and Vishwa Vidyalaya came to Rathods' residence and handed over Rs 3,500, a fund entirely collected by the students themselves.

However, a neighbour complained that nobody from the western part of the city had visited the family so far. ``People have come from as far as Dariapur. But nobody has bothered to come from the western areas of the city,'' he said.

The family has received at least a dozen letters from all corners of the State. A post-card from Arvind Parmar of Anand says, ``I am proud of your son.'' Another letter is from Purshottampriyadasji Swamiji of Swaminarayan sect. Local schools have also sent condolence letters to the family. Shailesh said that the family had decided not perform any rituals.