And 13-year-old sister Sana hasn’t stopped crying. Her brother, who used to get her “one rupee sweet” and had promised new clothes for Id, is no more.

Shaikh Rafiq (45), Driver, neighbouhood’s favourite ‘abbu’

Every weekend when Shaikh Rafiq returned home, his truck’s honking would be followed by children happily yelling, “abbu aa gaye, abbu aa gaye”. The weekend Santa would bring gifts, toys and sweets for all the children from various cities that he would come back from. On September 30, when the body of Shaikh Rafiq arrived, no kid was around. “He had come home silent, without the truck honking,” says wife Noor Jahan. This week, his 18-year-old son who always accompanied him on long trips as a cleaner, has gone on a consignment trip without his father for the first time. For Noor Jahan, who is performing Iddat (105 days of staying at home after divorce or husband’s death), it’s a loss of a companion and the best travel guide she knew. Rafiq had taken up a truck driver’s job recently to earn more. “He used to drive a luxury liner before and used to take us to places. Most of the neighbourhood children have been taken around by him,” says Noor Jahan. A neighbour’s child, Javed (5), points to a picture of gardens in Pune where Rafiq had taken him last year.

This is the second time that the family has been affected by a communal attack. “In 2001 when the riots broke out, our house was completely ransacked and burnt,” says Shaikh Rafiq’s father-in-law, Ibrahim Shaikh. Rafiq wasn’t that lucky, his entire back was covered with splinters.

... contd.