Unfinished dreams of 18 martyrs

Murlidhar Choudheri, the RPF constable, who lost his life in the terror attack, had planned a pilgrimage after his retirement.

Murlidhar Choudheri, the RPF constable, who lost his life in the terror attack, had planned a pilgrimage after his retirement.

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Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Ombale, who died while capturing gunman Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, loved children and was the favourite uncle in his building.

These are facets of the lives of the 18 men in uniform, who lost their lives in the terror attack, that the book, 26/11, Eighteen wants the world to know. The book, compiled by nine journalism students, will be released on November 26 and looks at the unfinished dreams of the martyred policemen and commandos.

“We have read a lot about the bravery of these personnel on the night of the attacks and their families, but we wanted to focus on them as fathers, sons and husbands to get a glimpse into their lives and dreams before that unfortunate night,”
said Sadaf Modak (20), who worked on the book.

The book was put together in two weeks by the students of the Journalism Mentor programme, a year long post graduate diploma course created by journalists Shishir Joshi and Dr Aloke Thakore.

“The families have been in the public eye for so long that they are now wary. To get them to open up to us was difficult,” said Shayoni Mehta (21), who also did some of the photography for the book.

“We have attempted to break the stereotype and capture the texture of the place in our photographs,” Mehta added.

Sketches replace the impersonal mug shots of the martyrs in the book. It also has pictures of Ombale’s belt.