<p>Life would never be the same again for Amalendu Dhar and his wife Kalpana who are still struggling to live with the sweet memories of their son and daughter. <br /><br />A faded-out banner pasted last year on the approach wall of the Dhars still bears testimony of the neighbour’s love for the duo.The young Kolkata trio of Ankik Dhar, Shilpa Goenka and Ankik’s sister Anindyee, were out at the German Bakery on that day. All three youngsters were killed along with eight others in the blast that ripped through the popular eatery that evening. <br /><br />“Our lives have been shattered and my wife is yet to recover from the shock,” a sobbing Amalendu said.<br /><br />Incidentally, all three were students of the same school in Kolkata and both Ankik and Shilpa came to Mumbai in 2009 to pursue their dreams.It was a quirk of fate that the 19-year-old Anindyee had asked for the true interpretation of death during a poetry class and insisted on how life could be beautiful despite the fact that it was going to end in death, her teacher had recalled.<br /><br />While Kalpana is a home-maker, Amlendu works with the ONGC in Assam. Amalendu’s colleagues and neighbours stood by the family during this period. <br />“We tried our best to give company to Kalpana so that she does not feel lonely. But despite that, she often cries for her children and occasionally faints,” said a neighbour <br />Shilpa Goenka, who perished in the blast, used to work at a Pune-based IT firm, and was a resident of Jamuna Apartment in Lake Town on the northern fringes of the city.<br />She was the youngest of three sisters and people in the neighbourhood claimed that the Goenkas had since then “recoiled unto themselves” and did not interact much with the locals.<br /><br />“Please do not enter the house. We are all still in a state of shock,” said Mahendra Saraog, her uncle.Efforts to talk to Shilpa’s elder sisters did not yield result either. <br /></p>
<p>Life would never be the same again for Amalendu Dhar and his wife Kalpana who are still struggling to live with the sweet memories of their son and daughter. <br /><br />A faded-out banner pasted last year on the approach wall of the Dhars still bears testimony of the neighbour’s love for the duo.The young Kolkata trio of Ankik Dhar, Shilpa Goenka and Ankik’s sister Anindyee, were out at the German Bakery on that day. All three youngsters were killed along with eight others in the blast that ripped through the popular eatery that evening. <br /><br />“Our lives have been shattered and my wife is yet to recover from the shock,” a sobbing Amalendu said.<br /><br />Incidentally, all three were students of the same school in Kolkata and both Ankik and Shilpa came to Mumbai in 2009 to pursue their dreams.It was a quirk of fate that the 19-year-old Anindyee had asked for the true interpretation of death during a poetry class and insisted on how life could be beautiful despite the fact that it was going to end in death, her teacher had recalled.<br /><br />While Kalpana is a home-maker, Amlendu works with the ONGC in Assam. Amalendu’s colleagues and neighbours stood by the family during this period. <br />“We tried our best to give company to Kalpana so that she does not feel lonely. But despite that, she often cries for her children and occasionally faints,” said a neighbour <br />Shilpa Goenka, who perished in the blast, used to work at a Pune-based IT firm, and was a resident of Jamuna Apartment in Lake Town on the northern fringes of the city.<br />She was the youngest of three sisters and people in the neighbourhood claimed that the Goenkas had since then “recoiled unto themselves” and did not interact much with the locals.<br /><br />“Please do not enter the house. We are all still in a state of shock,” said Mahendra Saraog, her uncle.Efforts to talk to Shilpa’s elder sisters did not yield result either. <br /></p>
