26 November,2009 08:47 AM IST | | Varun Singh
Aditya Sharma, who turns 13 today, will never cut a cake again. His dad was a Central Railway ticket collector posted at CST
Aditya Sharma could not celebrate his twelfth birthday on November 26, last year, because his father was shot dead by terrorists Moham-mad Ajmal Qasab and Abu Ismail at CST that night.
Aditya did not cut the cake that his father had bought last year, and he won't cut the cake today either. There is nothing left to celebrate, he feels.
The Std VIII student is in Gwalior to inaugurate the Saheed Sushil Kumar Sharma Foundation founded in his father's memory by family and friends.
Ragini Sharma, wife of the slain railway officer, says she does not believe in planning events like her son's birthday any more.
"I have stopped planning. My husband loved life. He had wanted to live a great life, and today, he is no more. Someone came and shot him, while we all were waiting for him at home.
I no longer think about the future."
Ragini now has a job with the railways in the Traffic and Signal Department at CST. And everyday she remembers her husband at work hisu00a0 office used to be a few steps away.
Did you know?
The Sharmas were earlier denied part of compensation due to them by the railways. They got the full amount after then railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav intervened.
That Night
Sushil Kumar Sharma ran from his office to the railway control room when he first heard the shots. He asked the announcers to alert commuters and the seniors about the attack.
On his way back to his office, he saw a girl crying for help. When he went to help her, the terrorist shot him in the back. Sharma bled to death on the floor.
Said Ragini, "A relative asked us to switch on the TV. We called him repeatedly, but he did not take the call.
At 1.30 am, our phone rang. It was a police officer who asked us to come to St George Hospital. I knew something had gone horribly wrong, as our relatives began to pour in around the same time."
