Courage under water: A father remembers son

MUMBAI: The Nimbalkar family has yet to recover from the death of young Pradip in last year’s floods. The constable was in Kurla. He saved two people, lost his balance while saving the third, fell into a manhole and died.

His father, Sitaram Nimbalkar (62) sits cross-legged in their modest home at police quarters in Nehru Nagar, looks back with pride. Pradip wanted to join the police force like his father.

He died in the line of duty, wearing the precious khaki uniform.

“It was his cherished dream to wear the uniform. He wanted to earn a name for himself,” said Sitaram, who retired as an assistant sub inspector in 2000. Pradip got into the force on his seventh try. “He was too much of a fighter to give up,” said Sitaram, which showed in his determination to save people .

Pradip was the sole breadwinner, survived by his parents and three sisters. Sister Hemangi now wears the uniform.  “We had lost everything. We could not even make ends meet. The police department and the government have helped us a lot,” said a grateful Vimala, Pradip’s mother.

It took three months for the family to come to terms with their loss. “It was a terrible shock. He was just 10 minutes away from home, from where he was continuously rescuing people,” said his father.

Hemangi is now a constable, training in the Local Arms Unit at Naigoan. “It was my brother’s dream to become an officer. I will fulfil his dreams,” she is
determined. In her spare time, she flips through the pages of the officer-level
examinations.