AMIT SINGH, 22, Student
Mumbai train blasts, July 11, 2006

What happened: Severe brain injury and has been lying in a vegetated state since

He was returning home to Virar after collecting admission forms for an MCA course when a bomb ripped through his train compartment. Two years later, the commerce graduate lies strapped to his bed in the high-dependency unit at Jaslok Hospital.

"He can feel our touch and hear us speak, but he cannot react," says his mother Meena. The doctors have warned that Amit might not be able to move around on his own, ever. But the parents, reeling under a severe financial crunch, are still hopeful.

Amit's hospital bills are taken care of by the government, but the family has already spent a huge amount on travelling to be with their son. "We have exhausted our savings and desperately need financial help," says Meena.

Despite newspaper features on every anniversary of the blasts and visits by top politicians, the Singh family is yet to see any light at the end of this dark journey.

G. SADASHIVA REDDY, 27, Design engineer
Hyderabad blasts, August 25, 2007

What happened: Lying in the hospital in a vegetated state

"Is he alive or dead for us? You can decide for yourself," says G. Vasantha, pointing to her younger son Sadashiva, now a paraplegic with a damaged brain, who cannot speak, see through the left eye, sit straight or have a meal.

But this is what timely medical attention for five months could barely achieve for Sadashiva who has pellets inside his head and body as a grim and poignant reminder of the deadly blast at the popular eatery Gokul Chat.

His brother Srinivas approached Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to extend the benefits-grant of Rs 5 lakh and a government job for next of kin.

In spite of an assurance by the chief minister on December 18 last year and again on July 31 this year, the bureaucracy is yet to find ways to deliver the benefits.

The family now depends on the income of his father, Mohan Reddy, a low-ranked employee in a government-run printing press in the city, to take care of Sadashiva. "We wait with hope even as blasts in other cities remind us of how our dear one has been snatched away though he is physically present with us," says Srinivas.

VINOD PODDAR, 43, Government employee
Delhi blasts, October 29, 2005

What happened: Lost his right leg and his son. Daughter sustained serious injuries

On the evening of a pre-Diwali shopping frenzy at Delhi's Sarojini Nagar market, an IED blast turned Vinod Poddar into a human torch, blowing his right leg off and mangling his left arm.

Even as Poddar flailed about in the flames, he watched his seven-year-old son Karan die and 13-year-old daughter Tanvi's limbs turn into a bloody mess. It was the nearly two-year wait for the Rs 1 lakh compensation from the Delhi government, which went into paying for a prosthetic limb.

Today, the sole bread-winner of a five-member family, which includes his mother, worries about the cost of medical expenses which are likely to stalk him like a ghost for the rest of his life.

"The dead suffer no pain," he philosophises. "For survivors like us, every moment is agony. Each time I hear of a blast, I just pray that the survivors don't have to undergo what I have gone through."

SANGITA PATNI, 26, Housewife
Ahmedabad serial blasts, July 26, 2008

What happened: Lost her husband in the Ahmedabad blasts

It is now 50 days since Vijay Patni, 27, fell victim to the bomb blasts while working as temporary ward boy in Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, leaving behind a young wife, three small children and parents.

The joint family lived on Vijay's monthly pay of Rs 2,500 besides the earnings of his parents, both of whom are small vegetable vendors. Sangita has already received Rs 5 lakh as compensation from the Gujarat Government.

She is expecting another Rs 3 lakh from the Union Government. But the family asks, "Can money erase the scars left behind by such a cruel death and that too engineered by fellow human beings?"

A deadly mix of anger and depression can clearly be seen on the faces of his wife and parents. Says father Sonjibhai Patni, 59, who belongs to the brave Dataniya Vaghri community, "If the Government can't hang these beasts in minimum possible time, then they should be handed over to us. We Vaghris know how to deal with such monsters."

But on the face of Sangita, who lives with her in-laws in a two-room chawl, depression is unmistakable. Says Sangita, whose three children are aged between five and one year, "With these children, how will I sustain for the rest of my life?"