One was caught in the epicentre of the blast, the other was consumed by its tremors. An ardent fan of Bhojpuri movies but with little money to spare, 19-year-old Imtiaz Alam had parked himself in the front row while Shehanshah, 18, was seated in the balcony. Both met an instant end—Imtiaz was swallowed by the impact of the blast, while a panic-stricken Shehanshah threw himself to death from the window of the balcony.

The two were among the many youngsters of Begusarai in Bihar who had come to Ludhiana in search of a better tomorrow. The bustling city had quite lived up to their hopes. Imtiaz Alam, who was jobless back home, was working at a hosiery unit that paid him Rs 2,000 a month, while Shehanshah, the sole earning member of his family, was making a decent sum as a tailor and had recently bought a cellphone.

“Our village has a tradition of sending people to Ludhiana. It’s a city that respects a good worker,” explained Shehanshah’s cousin Mohd Khurshid, distraught after the blast that has dealt a heavy blow to men from his village. While Shehanshah is dead, his cousin Imitiaz, also a tailor, has lost his right arm and the use of his left leg. Still in a state of shock after the amputation, Imtiaz hasn’t uttered a word after regaining consciousness. Doctors attending on him attribute it to weakness—Imtiaz has been given 20 units of blood and is likely to be given some more if his condition doesn’t improve. “He was all set to go home for Eid but cancelled his plans at the last moment,” says Khurshid.

... contd.