BUDHRAJ VERMA, 28
Budhraj Verma, a lawyer at the Varanasi Court, wanted his children to excel in academics and make it big. But now his wife Sangita doesn’t know how she will bring up son Shivam, 6, and daughters Anuradha, 4, and Shalu, 2, and take of her in-laws.
The family, which stays at Kanahari village on the outskirts of Varanasi, also includes Budhraj’s two unemployed brothers.
“How are we going to take care of his children?” wonders father Deen Dayal.
He adds, “Maybe we can buy more agricultural land with the Rs 5 lakh compensation we received. That can help us educate Budhraj’s children.”

YAGYA NARAYAN SINGH, 58
He had gone to the court in Varanasi to testify in a land dispute case and was caught in the blast. Singh is survived by his three daughters and wife who suffers from blood cancer.
“His three daughters were married and Singh was earning just for the treatment of his wife that cost about Rs 1 lakh every year,” said his nephew Anjani Singh, who too was injured in the blast.
Narayan Singh used to work at a hosiery store in Varanasi.
“Maybe the compensation money will help get my aunt proper treatment, something my uncle had always wanted,” says Anjani.

AJAY PANDEY, 32
Every time his parents want to hear him, they turn on the cassette player. Cassettes of the songs Ajay had sung, is all his parents have of him. A Bhojpuri singer, Ajay Pandey belonged to Aidwa village—just 3 km away from writer Munshi Premchand’s village Lamhi.
Though Ajay sung Bhojpuri songs and bhajans, it didn’t fetch him much money. So, three months ago he started working as a munshi for a senior lawyer at the Varanasi court.
With their only working member gone, the family is still waiting for the compensation cheque from the government.
“The only thing we have of our son are the cassettes of his melodious songs,” says his mother Shanti. Pandey’s wife Namita, meanwhile, sits quietly next to his harmonium.

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