RAKESH

What’s the safest place to be the day after a terror attack? Obviously, the site of the attack. At the Hanuman Mandir near Jaipur’s Sanganeri Gate, Tulsa Devi was back to selling fruits on Wednesday. And she’s selling the previous day’s wares. “I have fruit worth almost Rs 1,500 with me. If it rots, I will lose all the money,” says the single mother, who fainted due to the impact of the blasts that jolted Jaipur.

It was an astonishing sight in the Johari Bazar area on Wednesday evening. Minutes after the curfew was lifted, roads were jammed with traffic. Though no shops opened, locals say they have never seen such huge crowds in the area. Says Mahavir Prasad Sharma, a purohit in the Roop Chandrama mandir opposite Hanuman Mandir, “The saviour is stronger than the destroyer. There is nothing to fear.”

Most of Wednesday evening’s crowd in the Johari Bazaar area was made up of curious onlookers. In fact, for quite some time before the aarti in Hanuman Mandir, God took a backseat. “That’s where the blast took place,” a father pointed out to his son.

“And that wall has been damaged by the impact,” he added. Manisha Sharma, a housewife, was so keen to see the extent of the damage, she travelled all the way from Sikar Road, first to SMS Hospital, then to Hanuman Mandir. “Everybody at home told me not to go. But I lied to my husband and came here. I had to see for myself what had happened. But everything looks quite normal,” she said, almost disappointed.