After working hard for years, Madhu Pawar, at 60, was finally slowing down: he had struggled all those years to give his family a good life, but had found little time to spend with them. “The blast on July 11 killed him and his plans,” says son Shodhan, 26.

Pawar grew up in Belgaum and wanted to become an engineer. “He was a brilliant student. But my grandparents did not have even Rs 100 at that time, leave alone affording his educational expenses,” says Shodhan.

In his late twenties, Pawar shifted to Mumbai. He had to: three brothers and four sisters were looking up to him for support. For five years, he worked as a teacher. And then he changed his career.

That happened after a meeting with his childhood friend Amar Metrani, who incidentally died 10 days before the July 11 serial blasts. Together, they set up an adhesive tape manufacturing company, Tapex Corporation, in Belgaum. Pawar became its marketing manager in Mumbai.

He was constantly on the move. When he wasn’t in the field, he was busy with some work or the other at home, says his family. He would start work at 7 in the morning and continue till 10 pm, often up to 1 in the night.

But of late, Pawar had started returning home in Dahisar around 7 pm. And, in case of any untoward incident in the city, he would call up his family to tell them that he was okay. On July 11, he didn’t call.

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