Blast shocks student community in Pune

After the terror attack: Victims classmates relive the horror

A portrait of Anindyee was kept in her first year BA classroom, which reminded her friends of the terrible tragedy that took her life. She was a bright student and her English professor Prasanna Deshpande recalled how she topped in the internal exams recently.

Anindyee was also fond of trekking and would often go to the hills on weekends with her friends. Photography was another hobby that she had picked up and was learning her hand on the camera. “I cannot believe this. We used to go so often to restaurants in groups to enjoy parties... it could have happened to anyone,” said Praniti, one of her classmates.

The 19-year-old Anindyee was staying in a rented apartment along with a roommate, a lawyer, Mansi Pathak.

On Saturday, Ankik (24), Anindyee’s brother,   had come down from Mumbai along with his fiancee Shilpa Goenka (23) and all of them went to German Bakery with two more friends to celebrate Ankik’s promotion at J P Morgan, an investment bank, where he worked.

Both Dhar and Shilpa were from Kolkata. They were joined by Binita Gadani (22) and P Sundhari (22), who were working with a software firm Amdocs in Pune.

They went to German Bakery for celebrations on the eve of Valentine’s Day and had taken the table under which the terrorists chose to stash their deadly parcel.

When the news of the blast spread, Mansi Pathak and other roommates who knew about the party at the bakery rushed there, but the area was sealed off and nothing could be known. But the siblings were missing, and it was a cause of concern.

Bitter truth
The constant doubt turned into confirmation on Sunday, when the police informed them that not only the two siblings, but their friends too died in the blast. “I just could not believe my ears, but then, it was true,” Mansi said.

As the news began flashing on TV screens, the parents of Ankik and Anindyee flew in to Pune from Kolkata. “They were completely broken, they could not control their grief. Anindyee’s mother collapsed when she saw the bodies,” recalled Fergusson’s vice chairman Vikas Kakatkar.

Sundhari was from Hyderabad and she and Shilpa Goenka had studied in the same school in Ranchi. Her parents came to claim the body. They were too distraught to talk to anybody.

Binita was originally from Kandivli in Mumbai. Her parents were so shocked that they went back to Mumbai without claiming the body. Ultimately, the body was taken by her uncle.

The blast has shocked the students community in Pune, but most of them said it has not scared them.