Smita Salaskar, 45, the slain officer's wife, talks with a calm poise. Her face betrays her grief though.
"He was very kind-hearted and humble," she says.
"He used to talk little; even with us in the family. He would just smile. We were neighbours in Malad. We knew each other for quite some time, but he proposed to me only after completing his police training (in 1984) in Nashik. We got married in 1985."
The police officer never discussed his work with the family, she says. "Not that he was very secretive or reserved, but he wanted to keep his family away from his office work."
"He was very fond of cycling as a hobby and had travelled to Delhi, Goa, Aurangabad on a bicycle sometime in the early 1980s. He was 24 then and was the team leader."
"I think all his dreams were fulfilled," she says. "He was happy with his daughter, her education and with his family. Everything was going very smoothly for him until November 26," she pauses, "He was very keen that his daughter does her MBA."
On any given day Salaskar would come home very late, but on the night of November 26 he reached home at around 9.30 pm.
After dinner, he received a phone call from his department informing him that there was firing at Cafe Leopold in Colaba. He told his wife and daughter he was leaving immediately -- something very normal for the family; it was common for him to leave as soon as he received a phone call hinting at trouble in the city.
"While leaving he told me to watch TV and inform him about what was happening in the city," she says, recounting how it all began that night.
"At around 11, I called to tell that there was a terrorist attack at Cafe Leopold. I called him again at 11.15 and told him that there were reports of firing at even the Taj and the Oberoi."
When she asked him where he was, he said, "I am at the spot... I will call you later," an-eight-second-conversation that would turn out to be the last she would ever have with her husband.
"He hung up immediately. After that last call we went to sleep; we had no clue what was happening until a friend of mine called me at about 1 am. She told me that most channels were showing that Mr Salaskar was injured."
The wife and daughter switched on the television after Smita's sister, who lives in the same building, came home. The news channels were flashing the newsbreak: 'Vijay Salaskar is no more.'
Image: President Pratibha Patil presents a cheque to Smita and Divya Salaskar.
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Smita Salaskar, 45, the slain officer's wife, talks with a calm poise. Her face betrays her grief though.