The Hindu : Front Page : After the blast in bus, a blessed Diwali in hospital

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 03, 2005

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After the blast in bus, a blessed Diwali in hospital

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: It was a quiet but in many ways a blessed Diwali for Kuldeep Singh, driver of the Delhi Transport Corporation bus in which the second of the series of three blasts went off this past Saturday evening in the Capital.

Admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Kuldeep has suffered extensive injuries on his limbs, back, eyes and eardrums. On Tuesday, his family spent a restless Diwali on the seventh floor corridor near Ward D-7 where he is admitted. Continuing their vigil outside his ward, Kuldeep's family believes that it was sheer luck that allowed him to escape alive in the blast. They now hope that he would get better soon to hold his first-born.

"Kuldeep is awaiting the birth of his first child and while his eight-month pregnant wife has taken the news bravely she has been praying for him to get well soon. The DTC has also asked its conductors to visit and take care of Kuldeep's needs in the hospital in three different shifts. He is one of us and we are proud that we can stand by him in his hour of need,'' said DTC conductor Ramesh Chand who was on his rounds at AIIMS on Wednesday evening.

Doctors treating Kuldeep explained that this brave driver — who tried to hurl the bomb out of the bus after the conductor pointed to the unclaimed luggage — will need extensive physiotherapy and that there was a good chance of sight being restored in one eye.

Kuldeep, a resident of Mohan Nagar who had been employed under the kilometre scheme of the DTC, has also lost two fingers of his right hand but doctors are confident that he woill be able to lead a relatively normal life after recovery.

Bharatiya Janata Party president L.K. Advani visited Kuldeep in hospital on Wednesday and assured him all possible assistance.

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