Tushar and Nakul Khurana
Tushar and Nakul are brothers who are killed when a bomb explodes at a crowded market in Delhi. They are the sons of Vikas and Deepa Khurana and friends of Mansoor.
Vikas Khurana
Vikas is the father of Tushar and Nakul. Leaving his career as an accountant behind, he works as a documentary film-maker, occasionally producing TV advertisements. After the death of his two sons, he falls into a depression from which he never recovers--angry at himself, and angry at his family for not understanding him that he has chosen the film industry over accounting. In his grief, he spends most of his time outside the house, gathering material for a planned documentary about Delhi.
Never having been in favor of having children, he resents his own daughter Anisha, who was born a few years after the death of Tushar and Nakul. For a short time, he runs the Association of Small Bombs with his wife, seeking to provide comfort to the victims of smaller terrorist attacks and raising awareness within the general public. Eventually, he becomes so detached from his family that the marriage with Deepta fails. He moves to Sukhdev Vihar, where he dies from a potassium overdose after eating only bananas.
Deepa Khurana
Deepa is the mother of Tushar and Nakul. She runs a cake business to generate some additional income for the family. After losing her two sons, she is lost in grief. Her anger at her husband increases gradually because he neglects her. Eventually, she starts an affair with Mukesh, one of Vikas’ cousins. After breaking up with her husband, she returns to Bangalore with her daughter.
Malik
Malik is a friend and roommate of Shockie. He is considered the ideologue of the JKIF, the man behind its violent philosophy. Having studied chemistry at the University of Kashmir, he started a career as a dangerous, charismatic figure in the student protest movements, egging his fellow students on from stone throwing to kidnapping a vice chancellor of the university to assassinations and finally terrorism. When he is arrested in the wake of the 1996 bomb blast, the police refer to him as one of the most dangerous terrorists. He stays quiet for three years in prison before he tells the authorities about Shockie.
Shaukat “Shockie” Guru
Shockie is an experienced bomb builder and responsible for the 1996 bomb blast in Delhi, whose victims include Tushar and Nakul Khurana. In the aftermath of the terror attack, he assumes the role of a coach, training people like Ayub to support the cause of their terror organization. In the end, he is arrested and executed.
Mansoor
Mansoor is 12 when he is injured in the 1996 bomb blast, having gone to the market with his two friends Tushar and Nakul. After the attack, he spends most of his time confined to his home. At the age of 17, he leaves India for the US, where he pursues a degree in computer science in Santa Clara. Encountering freedom for the first time, he throws himself into drinking, smoking, partying, and porn.
However, after 9/11 he has to come back to Delhi to live with his parents because of their financial struggles. Moreover, having developed a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome, his career as a programmer is over before it even begins. Eventually, out of loneliness and rage, Mansoor volunteers for Peace For All. He meets Ayub and is arrested when the police suspect that he has ties to Ayub’s terror organization. After spending many years in prison, he is finally released.
