‘At six feet, with a muscular frame, he was our school cricket team’s fast bowler. Not only was he fast, he could swing the ball too, which was a gift. Anyway, if you were a friend and in need of help, you would find Rana there, especially if somebody needed to be bashed up.

‘Rana settled down in life, got married and had a daughter, Ahaana. She was a delight. At six years of age, she was never short of stories to tell – they could be about some game she played, or the birds, cats and dogs she had seen from the balcony, or about her friends Ziah or Jiaan. When I went to visit, she would look at me with curiosity and smile, with a twinkle in her eyes. It would make my day.

‘But then everything changed on the afternoon of 12 March 1993. On that day, Rana had taken his daughter to his office for the first time. He worked for Canara Bank, and his office was in the Alankar commercial complex in Nariman Point. His office building was next to the Air India building.

‘Rana took Ahaana to his office that day because he wanted to take her to Byculla zoo in the afternoon. He had promised to show her Whitey, the Siberian tiger, the zoo’s newest crowd-puller.

‘At around 2, as Rana was getting ready to leave with Ahaana, a loud explosion shook the entire building. Outside the window, Rana caught a glimpse of a cloud of dust billowing from the neighbouring Air India building. Within seconds, the floor and walls around Rana and Ahaana had cracked open. The floor caved in, taking everyone including Rana and Ahaana down with it. The two of them were among the hundreds of victims of the Bombay serial blasts of 12 March 1993, the biggest terror strike that had been perpetrated on Indians thus far.

‘The terrorists had used IED-rigged cars and scooters, as these bombs are particularly effective in blowing up buildings. The Air India complex and the Bombay Stock Exchange were hit. There were hand grenade attacks on the fishermen’s colony in Mahim.

‘Rana did not survive the blast. Only his right hand, its fingers still clutching two Byculla zoo tickets, was retrieved from the tonnes of rubble that he lay buried under. Ahaana lay injured and semi-conscious a few feet away from her father. She would later tell Kasturi Bhabhi that all she could remember was her Papa pushing her away after a loud boom shook the Alankar building.

‘Ahaana recovered, but she lost her speech. Kasturi Bhabhi got a clerk’s job at the bank, on compassionate grounds. Rana had been a senior zonal manager and had looked after his family well; now they are struggling and alone. Their planet lost its sun.