7/11 survivors deal with a ruthless society

Terror is something that the people in Mumbai can identify with. They've been through it. Some have left it behind, others are still struggling to put the past behind them.

The survivors of the 7/11 bombings are dealing with a society that has not only failed to live up to the grand promises it makes, but also lacks the basic integrity of helping those in dire need.

"Instead of going up in life, we are going down. This is the biggest change I have seen in my life. I don't know what will happen in the future. If this continues, then I don't know what to do," says a victim of the blasts, Rajesh Kumar Jha.

It's the fear of the unknown that makes this 22-year-old keep his daily date with the Almighty. However, he has to make do with just one hand to offer prayers. The other hand has been motionless since the July 11 bombings.

But it's the manner in which he was treated by his employers that pains him the most.

The bank says that they are not hiring. But I was already appointed. I didn't resign. Why can't I join back? The bank says they are full," says the distraught man.

Rajesh had run around as a sales executive for ING Vysya, a financial power house since 2004, but after the 7/11 bombings, they asked him to resign, then only offered him a position well below his abilities, which would pay him only a third of what he made earlier.

It's a charge that ING Vyasa finds hard to refute.
Says Regional CEO ING Vyasa, West, V Sankarshan Rao, "I don't exactly know the reason, but certainly the fact is, we did offer him a job later and the offer still stands."
Rajesh's struggle didn't end here. Having lost upto 83 per cent of his earning capacity, Rajesh or any one his dependents was eligible for a job confirmed by a Right To Information document from the Western Railways.
He didn't get the job. All he got was taunts. "They call me loola langda (handicapped) and kill my spirit," says he.
A hand to mouth existence in a tiny house, is what this survivor's family has been reduced to.

From being the only earning member to burdening his family with a Rs 5,000 medicine bill every month, for Rajesh, it's the reality that hurts more than the shrapnel wounds that he received when the bombs exploded.

Both ING Vysya Bank and the Railways may have their own stories to tell, but the fact remains that Rajesh faced various levels of insensitive behaviour while dealing with them.

7/11 has not just exposed the ugly side of terror but also how society deals with the terror victims.