For whom the bells will never toll

JAIPUR: The day after, Jaipur is coming to terms with its losses.
 
Life was limping back to normal, but the usual fragrance of flowers in the wee hours of the morning at Chandpole Gate was missing on Wednesday. Devotees sang aartis at the Hanuman temple here but the pain of Tuesday’s blasts was clearly visible on their faces.

For, among the blasts’ victims was Aaleram (50), who had been selling flowers outside the temple for three decades. It had been business as usual for the old florist on Tuesday evening till a bomb killed him on the spot. A resident of Balanandji ka Rasta near Chandpole, he was his family’s sole bread earner. While Aaleram was being cremated on Wednesday, his son was fighting for life at the SMS hospital.

Hemant Chauhan, a regular customer of Aaleram, recalled the way the florist used to welcome people. Fighting back tears at Aaleram’s cremation, Hemant said, “Every day Aaleram greeted me with a smile while handing over the flowers.”

Elsewhere, locals were mourning Lala, the gol-gappa (pani puri) vendor in Tripolia Bazaar. He was liked so much that his preparations were compared to those of Mumbai’s Chowpatty. The blast near his hand cart ripped the place apart, killing Lala with two of his customers. Dayal, one of Lala’s regular customers, said life would get back to normal soon but the locals would miss the chilly taste of Lala’s gol-gappas.

In a corner of Sanganeri Gate’s Purabmukhi Hanuman temple on Wednesday, priest Damodar Sharma mourned one of his best friends, Mohan Lal Sharma. Mohan Lal, a resident of Amber, was a known face for devotees. For more than 20 years, he had been selling mave ki gunjhi (milk cakes) here, for offering to the deity.

But an explosion at 7.30pm on Tuesday close to Sharma's stall snatched him away from his friends and admirers.

Moments before the blast, Navin Sharma had bought milk cakes from Mohan Lal. “As I was climbing the temple stairs there was a loud explosion. Soon I heard screams all around,” Navin told DNA. By the time Navin gathered himself, he realised his favourite prasad shop was gone. Mohan Lal’s son Gaurav is battling for life.

Young Amit Bahal, who would buy milk cakes from Mohan Lal every Tuesday, reminisces how he relished the Aamerwala's (as Mohan Lal was fondly addressed by devotees) gunjhi.

Priest Damodar Sharma also remembered Murli Sindhi, a pan-shop vendor who died in the blasts. Offering prayers on behalf of the families of Mohan Lal and Murli on Wednesday, the old priest struggled to control his tears: “His paan was a token of friendship. It is ironic he succumbed to tools of hatred.”