Padmakar Narayan Rao Kulkarni used to make jalebis at Dilsukhnagar to support his wife, son and an unmarried daughter, who are living in this secluded village, some 200 km from Hyderabad. Forty five days after the Dilsukhnagar blasts, the family of the cook, who died in the blasts, is not aware that a member is eligible for a government job.
Seated in a grimy hut made of flimsy cardboard sheets and dry mud, Jayashree Padmakar Kulkarni has been avoiding people ever since her 52-year-old husband’s death. The mother of five is struggling to get out of depression.
“Who will give us a job? The Tahsildar here handed us the Rs. 6-lakh cheque recently, but there is no word about government employment,” says Sonali, a Class nine student. On the fateful day Narayan Rao had left his jalebi shop for the refreshment stall where he died instantly in the blast. His sudden death has forced Maanik, the only son to give up studies and head to Bidar in search of a job.
“We already have Rs. 4 lakh worth loans that father had taken to get my sisters married. Even I have to start working now,” says Sonali. But a job at Bhatsanghvi, 25 km from Maharashtra and 50 km from A.P., is tough because except for farming there is no other activity.
“You either work in fields or idle away. There is nothing else to do. Bidar, Gulbarga, Bhalki and Hyderabad are places to go for work,” points out Pallavi, the eldest daughter. She came home to take care of her mother.
With a sick mother, the responsibility of managing the house has fallen on the young shoulders of Maanik and Sonali. “I have to take care of my mother once my sisters go back. We are in dire need of jobs to keep our house running,” she says, bowing her head.
