Nandini, the potter’s daughter, had lost vision in the left eye in an accident when she was only a year old. “We still remember March 26, 2006. It was the day which ended our agony. We got a call from the BHU hospital that day. We were told to come to the Varanasi hospital the next day,” recalled Nandini’s father Ram Jatan Prajapati.

The family reached Varanasi the same night. The next day, the cornea implant was performed by ophthalmologists OPS Maurya and Abhishek Chandra. “We were later told that Nandini was able to see with both eyes only because of a youth who died in the temple blast,” Nandini’s mother Pushpa said.

“As far as we know, the other cornea was implanted in the eye of an elderly woman from Jamalpur. It was to go to a boy from Varanasi initially. But he he fell ill just before the surgery and the doctors decided against the implant,” Ram Jatan said.

“The blast plunged one family into darkness but returned light to two families. We will be forever indebted to the family of the young man who died in the blast,” Pushpa said.

Ophthalmologist Abhishek Chandra said “Nandini’s left eye in which the cornea was implanted has a squint which now needs correction. We will perform corrective surgery on April 14.”

Ritesh’s family believes he is still alive, seeing the world through Nandini and the woman in Bihar. But the family is still waiting for the certificate confirming the eye donation. Told about this, Dr Chandra said “if such an error has taken place, it will be rectified. Ritesh’s family will be handed the certificate.”