BOMBAY, 1 September 2003 — Ghulam Hussain has earned scraps of cash as a salesman since he was a child, but after a deadly car bombing rocked Bombay he has been lying wounded in a hospital left pondering his future.
Hussain, 46 and illiterate, worked at a shoe shop in the Zaveri Bazaar and was out to order tea for a customer when one of the twin explosions went off in the busy market.
“Because of the deafening sound I tried to close my ears but found blood dripping from my head,” said Hussain, lying on an iron cot at the J.J. Hospital. “I thought it was an earthquake and buildings were collapsing.
“When I saw bodies being scattered all over the street I realized it was a bomb attack. My head reeled and I fell unconscious. Now I cannot think properly or walk. I don’t know whether I will get my job back,” he said.
Fifty-two people were killed and more than 150 injured when twin car bombs ripped through the heart of India’s financial district on Monday.
Hussain earned about 1,200 rupees ($26) every month.
“I’ve been doing the same job since I was 10 years old. I started off by earning a rupee a month. Now I don’t know if I will even get that,” said Hussain, who suffered splinter injuries on his head, stomach and leg.
“Who will look after my kids and relatives? I am the only earning member of the family,” said Hussain, who hails from the neighboring state of Gujarat.
Doctors said only 29 victims remained in the hospital after most of the wounded in the attacks were discharged. Most of those injured were poor laborers toiling on the streets as cobblers, fruit and snack vendors and jewelry workers.
On the bed straight across from Hussain’s another blast victim, Ramu Patil, a waiter at a local hotel, was in tears.
“One splinter went straight into my right eye. Other pieces ripped through my stomach and legs,” said Patil with his wife and children standing by the bed.
“Doctors have said they cannot do anything to restore my eyesight. How will I work then? I used to get 2,000 rupees and if I do not work for a month how will my family survive?” Patil said.
