30th October, 2013:
11:00 AM:
My normal day started.. I was about to start my work in office when my mother called me and was speaking about a bus accident involving Jabbar Travels on Bangalore – Hyderabad Highway.. near Mahabubnagar which is about 130 KMs away from here.(why was she telling this to me..!!??) and then came the real bad news… One of my cousins: Priyanka, she was on board and was killed in the accident… I just could not believe this.. I browsed through the internet to find out the details and to confirm whether this was true.. My sister called me and told me to look into eenadu online edition and that the second link confirms that she is dead.
12:00 PM:
I rushed to one of her uncles house where the body was expected to arrive at around 2.30 PM (Last night she was Priyanka.. the next day she was being referred to as body.. )… like in a movie scene, everything was flashing by in my mind..
1:00 PM:
Reached the house in chikkadapally.. I was about to call my grandmother to know the apartment’s name but then saw a group of news reporters standing near an apartment.
“photo sampadinchali.. gandhinagar lo inkokallu unaru ata.. nenu akadadiki velli vosta” (I need to get a photo of her.. there is one more in gandhinagar.. I am going there).. Probably this is needed for the cover story of the whole accident.
I then went in. Her mother and aunts were crying inconsolably.. Her mother was shouting “she will come now.. she will say hello to me.. I can see her in a blue dress standing at the door..”
On the other side, people started gathering as the time passed. They were having conversations within each other and were recounting their version of what they were doing when they heard about this.
One was doing his daily pooja rituals.. other was about to start to office..
A couple of them were discussing on how these private buses were being driven and some other accident in the recent past which killed 32 people.
One person was giving some instructions on phone about some wood work going on in his home.
A couple were discussing on where to place the body: the hall or the first room?
“the sofas are here.. we cannot accommodate it.. we will place it in the cellar.. most of the people do that and send it away from there itself..”
“we can move one of the sofas to the hall.. the box would be placed here itself.. it would be of my length“
“it should be placed in this direction. The head should be in that direction.. Placing here would be fine to move around also”
The room was cleaned and the sofas were moved out to make place.
1:45 PM:
The freezer box arrived in a white colored Maruti Van.
“Freezer Box on rent” and a phone number on it. (business depends on people getting died each day and who afford to that rented box..!!)
It was more like a refrigerator but a sleeping one.. with a plastic lid over it.. probably it was in use very frequently.. it looked very old and had a phone number on it in red colored bold font.
The box was carried and then placed in the room by 2 people. It seemed like a routine affair for them.
“Tala etu vaipu?” (head which side?)
“…itu vaipu” (This side)
“1.5 litres water bottle untey tala kinda pettandi.. votti dindu tho sarigga undadu” (place a 1.5 liters water bottle under head to make it stand still.. otherwise only a pillow is not sufficient)
He was taken aside and was explained that the body was completely burnt and this was not needed.
“box on chestunna.. cool avtundi chuskondi” (switched on the freezer box.. check it out. Its getting cooled)
“earthing undi kada.. shock kottadu kada”
“[smile]…... kotha flats ki earthing untundi sir.. shock emi kottadu.. paata flats ki aithe ilantivi untayi” (new flats have their earthing done.. no need to worry of shock.. old flats have the chances like this)
“[smile]…..”
“body raagane mutha tisi petadamey.. sannati cloth emaina untey kinda vesi apudu body ni pettandi.. tisetapudu easy ga untundi” (just remove the lid and place the body.. spread out a thin cloth and then place the body so that it would be easy to take it out)
“repu podduney vochesi tiskellipo box ni” (take the box out tomorrow morning)
The scenes of Vedam movie came in my mind. One of the lead roles says “mana basti lo aithe ganta lo ettestaru.. dabbunnollu ice pettey lo oka roju mottham pedtaru.. dinnamma jeevitham.. chavu ki kuda dabbu undali…” (in our colony the body is taken away in an hour.. rich people put the body in an ice box and have it for a whole day.. money should be there even in death)
2:15 PM:
Her husband arrived from Bangalore.. completely devastated.. She was married an year ago.
I went out and stood in the balcony.. an elderly person standing beside me was telling me that the body was identified by her mother with the help of chains around the neck. Father and 2 more relatives are on the way back to Hyderabad.. in about 45 mins they are expected to reach.
3.15 PM:
The ambulance arrived with 2 sedan cars infront of them.
Her father is an additional judge and was strong. Heard him saying that its still doubtful if the body was his daughter’s or not.. because it was only with the help of chains that she was identified.
Press reporters gathered around the ambulance door to take the pictures. Her father shouted to move them out of the way.
Stretcher came out. It was like a huge rice bag.. completely packaged with cloth, polythene sheets and ropes.
Grandfather like person to the girl was crying aloud.. Hitting face with his palms.. “what else should I see now also at this age?” His daughter died 3 months ago due to some long standing illness.
3:30 PM:
She was placed in the box. People grew in numbers. A big photo frame of her in a black and white photo was placed above the box.. What a beautiful smile..!
Everyone had grim expression. It was difficult to digest the tragedy of this magnitude.
The body was to be cremated tomorrow morning.. Some more relatives were expected to arrive from Delhi by 7:00 PM flight.
The girl’s cousin sister came out and looked at the stretcher. Burst out crying and sat down on the stairs looking at it. The stretcher had red marks on it.. may be the blood stains.
5.30 PM:
We left the place. We were about to sit in our car when a passerby was asking my mother what happened in there and why were so many people in the cellar..
6.30 PM:
Reached home. Took a bath. Had food.
We were watching all the news channels one after the other. They were giving the reasons for the accident and story of each person died in it. Photos were flashed and relatives were interviewed. Everyone had a story of their own.
31st October, 2013:
--------------------------------------------X--------------------------------------------
I could not make it for your marriage.. I lost track of all my cousins since more than 3 and half years. But somehow I should have got in touch with you after your marriage. Wishing like this is of no use now.
No parent should face a situation like this.. Losing their loved children in accidents or due to illness. The grief and pain can never be taken away from them.
Life or death happen within the wink of the eye lids.. Yet we fight with parents, friends, egos, career, job change, salary hikes, appraisals, promotions..
This is the end of a bright and active girl. Just 25 years old. Sudden and tragic death in a road accident in a split of second due to driver’s inability to judge the gap and control the speed because of a sleepy mind while overtaking a car at 120 KMPH in a powerful Volvo bus.
Never thought that you would be one of the blog’s articles in this fashion.
Good bye.
