The small space, just enough to park a goods trolley, under a tree at the bike market in Chandni Chowk, has remained vacant since Monday night.
“Kashmiri yahaan apne rickshaw lagata tha (Kashmiri used to park his rickshaw here),” 45-year-old Shiv Singh Nagar told The Indian Express. The “Kashmiri”, the carpenter’s friend, Bilal Ahmed Masoud (32 years old), died on Thursday, as a result of the wounds he sustained in the explosion that occurred outside the Red Fort on Monday evening.
On Friday afternoon, battery-powered goods carts — or “rickshaws” — lined up at the Bike Market, a row of shops selling bikes and bike parts two lanes from the blast site. Bilal’s car was destroyed in the explosion, which killed 10 people and injured 30 others.
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Bilal moved to Delhi as a teenager 16 years ago from Ganderbal in Jammu and Kashmir. He was not married, and remained alone, making his living loading, unloading and transporting goods in his wagon. He parked the cart under a tree at night and slept in it. His friends at the bike market said all his belongings were in one bag.
“I called him (Bilal) around 6.50 pm that day to ask him where he was. I had sent him to deliver some goods at Kashmir Gate. He said he was at the Red Fort traffic signal,” Nagar said. “Then I heard the explosion and the ground shook.”
Najjar said that he called Bilal again at 7:01 pm, and that he was able to speak to him. “He said he was injured and they were going to take him to the hospital,” Najar said. “That was our last conversation.”
Nagar said that he had been friends with Bilal ever since the latter arrived in Delhi, and that they had worked together ever since. “We went to the hospital’s emergency department twice, but we were not able to meet him. We will always feel sorry that we were not able to see him before he died,” Najar said.
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Bilal’s friends learned of his death after police arrived at the market on Thursday. Nagar said: “Hum phele maane hi nahin, humne kaha koi aur Bilal hoga. (We didn’t believe them, we thought it must be another Bilal).”
Bilal’s friends mentioned that he would bring apples and walnuts with him from his annual visits to Kashmir.
“He once also brought ghee and pickles. It’s all fresh from Kashmir, he says,” Nagar said. He added: “He would call his family at night and talk to them via video call. They would ask him to return to Kashmir, but he would say that he would like to stay here.”
Bilal’s family wanted him to go to a wedding at his older sister’s house, but Bilal had it on his mind. “He was working in Raipur for a few months to earn some extra money, and returned to Delhi before Diwali. I asked him to go, and that I would lend him some money if he needed it. But before he could make up his mind, this happened,” Nagar said.
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Lala Ram (57), who also runs a rickshaw, recalls his banter with Bilal on Monday.
“He called me from afar and joked with me, ‘buzurg aadmi ho, ab toh kaam chhod do.’ (You are an old man now, you should stop working.) I never imagined that this would be the last time I would see him.”
Parveen Kumar Arora, who owns a shop in the market, said Bilal was loved and trusted. “Everyone knew him, and he would deliver even expensive goods,” Arora said. “When it rained, he would take shelter outside our store.”
(Tags for translation)Delhi blast
