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26/11 widow inspired by her husband's spirit of generosity

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1. Musicians pay tribute to martyrs of 26/11 with their rendition at Marine Drive on Wednesday2. The daughter of a slain police officer lays a wreath3. policemen pay tributes at the 26/11 memorial on the sixth anniversary of the terror attacks on Wednesday
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Ragini Sharma laughs after every sentence, neither displaying despair, nor making a show of self-pity. She lost her husband and sole breadwinner Sushil on 26/11, the same day when her son Aditya turned 13. Her throaty laughter hides the struggle she has to undergo to keep her family on the rails.

Sushil Sharma was a ticket collector caught in the crosshairs on that dark night at CST. Amid all the pain of losing him in the attack, her memory of a quality of his shines out. Sushil was a generous man, she said.

Six years later, Ragini is trying to keep his legacy alive through her own acts of generosity. "I have just come back after donating to needy students in Kalyan, school bags that double up as benches," said Ragini, 49. "These special multipurpose bags are made by students of Symbiosis college, Pune, under an initiative called Prayas," she adds.

She said, "Sharmaji always wanted to help others. My aim is to continue his good work and take care of my family."

And in this philanthropic spirit the Sharma family founded the Shaheed Sushil Kumar foundation which is now making a difference to the lives of many underprivileged students in rural Kalyan and Sharma's hometown, Gwalior. The family made available to the foundation the entire compensation amount that they got from the Railways and the government. "We have adopted a tribal girls' school in Gwalior and will be conducting health camps and taking care of the education of 250 girls there," she said. The foundation, which is run by the Sharma family, has also attracted other donors, who contribute either money or service.

Six years after the attack, this housewife who hardly stepped out of her house in Kalyan commutes daily to CST, where she works with the railways. "When Sharmaji was there, I did not even know where his office was. And now I know everything in Kalyan as well as CST," she said. It was initially hard for the homemaker to become the breadwinner. "I had to educate my children so I joined work," she said.

Though she needed money for her children's education, she refused a corporate house's offer to contribute towards their fees. "In the first year (after 26/11) I accepted their help, but then I realised that there are so many people who do not have any source of income. So I asked the corporate house to help those people," she said.

Ragini, who has two children, Aditya, 18 and Siddhant, 22, prefers to spend her free time after office hours in social work. She said, "After I started working, I realised that other people have such big problems that make my own problems seem minuscule. While doing my social work I realised that even today there is so much poverty in India. And I want to do my bit to alleviate it as much as I can."

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