A year after the devastating serial blasts rocked Assam, the immediate relatives of more than 90 victims are yet to come to terms with the reality.
The family members of those killed and the survivors of the seven blasts that rocked Guwahati, Barpeta Road and Kokrajhar recount with horror the difficult year they passed since the Black Thursday last year.
"What was my parents' fault? They had built a new house and had gone to the Ganeshguri market to buy provisions for the 'grihapravesh' (house warming puja), scheduled for the next day, when the bombs went off," says 14-year-old Kaustav Bora who now lives with his aunt and octogenarian grandparents.
Kaustav's father died on the spot with his body found inside the car while his mother battled for life for a week and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi where she died.
Nine-year old Surjya Barman of Kokrajhar along with his mother make an effort to get over the loss of his father Sunil Barman who was a muster-roll cook in the Seventh Assam Police Battalion.
For his 29-year-old wife Shristi, who is yet to realise the full impact of the loss, life taught many bitter lessons, as a section of her husband's family tried to marry her off and take away her son along with the money received by her from the state government.
Fate dealt a cruel blow to 70-year old Purnima Saikia, who was widowed at an early age and struggled hard to bring up her talented daughter Deepamoni Saikia.
Saikia lost her only child in the blast in the Kamrup Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court where she practised as an advocate. Deepamoni was an established singer with two CDs of Assamese songs to her credit.
Nine-year-old Karan and his mother Sunita Sarmah are haunted by the loss of his father Sagar Sarmah and four-year-old sister Moromi.
The last year has not been easy for the injured and the other survivors too.
"I am undergoing treatment for my burn injuries since last year but my chances of complete cure is probably a distant dream," says 28-year-old Amit Kalita who owned a small shop near the blast site at Ganeshguri in Guwahati.
Kalita points out that the money for his treatment was also a problem as his shop, along with others' have been moved out from Ganeshguri due to security reasons, and at present he was dependent on his elder brother for his treatment.
Ruby Deb, who along with her son Pankaj Deb also suffered serious injuries at the Fancy Bazaar blast in the city, still suffers from hearing and neurological problems.
"We are yet to receive the amount promised by the government for the injured and have spent more than a lakh for our treatment, but are yet to be cured," she said.
The scars of the most devastating blasts in the state that left more than 90 dead and nearly 500 injured would definitely take a long time to heal.
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