But evenings were reserved for wife Nirmala. “Every Sunday he would go out with her. That’s the only day they could spend some time with each other. It would be a short trip of their own,” recalls Amruta.

But despite his hawk eye on work issues, Suresh was popular at office. “He would keep an eye on everything, to the smallest detail. But if something was amiss, then Suresh would have to fix it come what may,” says his departmental colleague Nitin Dahati.

And though he was always punctual about coming to work, he was hardly particular about leaving. “Often work would hold him back in office,” recalls section engineer Jugal Dhulia. “A fortnight before the blasts, there was a minor problem and we ended up staying back in office to complete the maintenance work.”

Outside of his professional life, if Suresh loved his Sunday evening walks with Nirmala, he also liked watching movies. “The Towering Inferno was his favourite. He had seen it on the first day first show way back in 1974. He liked Baghbaan too,” reminisces Amruta, adding that he “simply loved’’ old film songs of Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh.

On Terrible Tuesday, Suresh boarded the 5.19 pm Virar fast from Churchgate but died after a blast ripped through his compartment at Borivali. With son Dhiren away in New Delhi, the family was informed of his body at Bhagwati Hospital by the police.

Suresh’s boss Omkar Singh was with him on the same train but in another compartment. “We normally prefer the last compartment together. That day, for some reason, he took the front one,” rues Singh.

... contd.