Copyright deccanchronicle
Hyderabad:“This year was going well for us. I performed my daughter’s wedding, and my son moved to a better company with a higher pay in Bengaluru.He came home for his birthday and Diwali. We all celebrated Diwali at my daughter’s place, and now the house is all dark,” recalled Srinivas, after his son Deepak died in the bus fire near Kurnool last week.Srinivas, was in tears while speaking to Deccan Chronicle. “We were supposed to be happy — with my daughter’s new family and my son’s new job — but now it’s all turmoil,” he said.“We live in Odisha. Deepak completed his BTech from GIT in Gunupur and took up a software job in Hyderabad. He recently got a better offer in Bengaluru and joined there on the 6th of this month. He came to Hyderabad to celebrate his birthday and Diwali and was returning to Bengaluru. He had plans — he wanted us to move to the city. Just days before, he was happily discussing it with his sister. And today, we performed his fifth-day ceremony.”Srinivas received a call on Friday morning from Deepak’s roommate, who said Deepak’s number was not reachable. “Meanwhile, we saw the news mentioning the names of passengers and the bus. It is unbearable for a parent to see their grown-up child dead,” he wept.Though most parents and relatives came to know of the accident through news or social media, all of them kept trying to call their loved ones’ numbers — most of which remained unreachable, as the mobile phones had been burnt or melted due to the intense heat.Most family members said they could not even have one last glimpse of their loved ones. “All we received were bodies wrapped like parcels,” one relative said, breaking down.Among the deceased was Adi Seshagiri Rao (48), an employee of Indian Oil Corporation. His brother-in-law Kishore said that after learning of the incident through news reports, they repeatedly tried calling Rao’s number, which went unanswered.“We started receiving calls from police and revenue teams from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and immediately left for Kurnool,” said Kishore.“Our hearts sank when they asked us to come to the spot. If they had mentioned the hospital, we would have felt some relief. But when they said spot, I realised the situation was worse — and it was. The body was hardly recognisable. From all his belongings, only his gold chain remained, which we received as a keepsake.”Rao, who worked in Bengaluru, had recently moved his family to Attapur for his daughter’s education and was trying for a transfer to Hyderabad. His recent visit, too, was related to the transfer, Kishore said.Among the victims were also a mother and daughter from Medak — Sandhya Rani (43) and Chandana (23). Their maternal uncle Subash Goud took charge while Sandhya’s husband rushed home from Oman.“Sandhya and Chandana were travelling from Hyderabad to Bengaluru. From there, Sandhya was supposed to take a flight to Oman,” Subash shared. “She had come to India a month ago to attend the first death anniversary of a family member. After that, she began preparing for her daughter’s wedding.”Chandana, who worked as a techie in Bengaluru, lived there while her parents were based in Muscat. “When I heard about the accident, I immediately rushed to the spot with other family members,” Subash said.“What I saw was dreadful. I raised Chandana myself and have been part of all the family’s ups and downs. Performing their final rites broke me completely. So many deaths in a single day — it’s unbearable. Sandhya’s husband is devastated. She had even purchased gold and silver items for Chandana’s wedding and was taking them to Bengaluru. Along with those ornaments, their half-melted bodies too perished. What we received of the mother and daughter was nothing but a parcel.”“With this pain, if we had also been forced to run around for information or to identify the bodies, it would have been even more unbearable,” said Suresh, another relative. “The Telangana government acted quickly with arrangements and ex gratia, but there will be justice for the dead only when the right action is taken.”Subash added firmly, “No suspension can be a lesson — only removal from service can be. Every responsible person must be punished after a detailed investigation. Only then can such tragedies be prevented in the future.”
