I lost my only friend: Salia Bano

"She was my only friend when I came here 19 years ago," Salia Bano (49) said with tears rolling down her cheeks, while remembering her long journey with Sabunissa Khan, on Thursday.

"I didn't understand a thing about this huge city when I came to Mumbai 19 years ago from Lucknow. Aapa (Sabunissa) helped me out with everything. We were living on rent in their property," said Bano, who has been living in Bandra for the last three months.

Saying Sabunissa stood by her through thick and thin, Bano said, "We would talk all day long, and sometimes even late in to the night. Bhaijaan (Mozim Khan, Sabunissa's husband) would joke, 'If given an opportunity, you two could giggle all day and night long.' And then we would laugh even more."

Narrating another incident, Bano said, "There were times when I would go and cook in other people's homes, but couldn't manage to cook food in my own house. My own children would go hungry. In such times, Aapa would cook for me."

"There was not a single time when Aapa and bhaijaan did not support our family. They were there through the thick and thin. I can only imagine what she and others must have gone through. I lost my only friend," Bano said.