How Hyderabad blasts shattered young dreams

Hyderabad, Feb 24: Thursday's terror attacks in Hyderabad snuffed out innocent young lives, snatched bread earners of families, shattered many dreams and left some maimed for life.The victims include young students who had come to Hyderabad from various districts with dreams of making a career and a poor worker who migrated from Rajasthan to eke out a livelihood. The twin blasts in the crowded Dilsukhnagar plunged the families into grief. Two young friends, who had dreams of donning police uniforms, were among 16 who lost their lives. Coming from the backward Adilabad district, M. Rajasekhar (25) and V. Vijay Kumar (23), both MBA students, were preparing for the sub-inspector's exams.The dreams of these promising youngsters were cut short by the terror attacks when they were having tea along with two other friends at road-side tea stall. The two others survived with injuries.Rajasekhar was a son of daily wage labourer while Vijay Kumar's father is a farmer. The four youths from a remote village in Adilabad district were living in a room in Dilsukhnagar, home to many students coming from various districts and also the hub of job training institutes.G. Tirupathi from Karimnagar district met a similar fate. After completing his MBA in Warangal, the 32-year-old had migrated to Hyderabad to prepare for civil services examination. Son of a coal mine employee, Tirupathi was attending coaching centre on that fateful evening. His friend Ravi Kumar is in critical condition.It was Srinivas Reddy's weekly visit to Sai Baba temple in Dilsukhnagar but he never knew that it would be his last. The BSc (computers) final year student was waiting for a bus to return home when the terror struck. He had come to Hyderabad three years ago and was staying with her sister. Srilatha and her husband found Srinivas Reddy's mutilated body after nearly 12 hours. Of the 16 dead, five were from Hyderabad, nine from other districts of Andhra Pradesh and one each from Karnataka and Rajasthan.G. Swapna Reddy's dreams were also cut short. The 30-year-old MBA student from Santoshnagar in Hyderabad had gone to Dilsukhnagar to buy some books along with her friend V. Rajitha. Swapna was not only studying at Islamia College of Engineering and Technology in Bandlaguda but was also working there as a clerk in the same college to support her family comprising mother, two sisters and a brother.The story of Rajitha (22) is equally shocking. Though she survived the blast, her leg had to be amputated. Her father, a small-time businessman, said she had dream of taking up a banking job after her education to help him.Seventeen-year-old Mohammed Aijaz Ahmed was another young student who met tragic end. Student of a polytechnic college on the city outskirts, he was waiting for bus to return home. "He left for the college like any other day. We never thought that he would not come back," said Aijaz's father Asghar Ali, a motor mechanic.Mohammed Rafeeq (22) was also returning home from a shop where he was working. This youth from Babanagar area in the city had discontinued his education after 12th standard and took up a job to help his ailing father and other family members.Chogaram Kalaji (25) came to Hyderabad from Rajasthan only three months ago and was working at a tea stall. According to his friends, he migrated to Hyderabad to eke out a livelihood after his father's death. He was getting a monthly salary of Rs.4,000 and was sending a major part of this money to her mother back home.