When N. Mallaiah waved goodbye to his seven-year-old grandson N. Vamshi on Thursday morning, he probably never imagined that it would the last time he would see the boy waving back. The next hour-and-a-half was traumatic, as the news of Vamshi’s death struck him like lightning, leaving him distraught and in tears once he saw his little boy’s body.
Sitting in a room at the mortuary of the Gandhi Hospital in the afternoon, a grim-faced Mallaiah indifferently answered questions and apprised police officials of details about Vamshi. “I dropped him at the bus stop at about 9 a.m., and it was around 10.30 a.m. that I learnt of the tragedy. His father, N. Mallesh, did not even know about it as he doesn’t have a phone,” he said, holding back tears.
Mallaiah, who used to spend most of his time with Vamshi, fondly recalled that his grandson, a first-standard student, liked studying. “We really wanted him to study, and now he is gone forever. He would spend most of his time with me,” said the grandfather, who vainly struggled to comprehend the turn of events. Vamshi was among those who died in the Masaipet mishap.
Vamshi’s parents, Mallesh and Hema Latha, could not come to the city from their village Venkaipally in the morning, as they were away and were not informed about their son’s demise until much later in the day, said Mallaiah. “They also have another child, Ramu, who is just an year old,” he added.
As Mallaiah spoke, he looked into his watch, which clocked 4 p.m., the time when the seven-year-old would usually be back home from school, and when he would pick him up from the bus stop. Time had stopped for the old man, who knew that he won’t see Vamshi return from school ever again. The second body at the mortuary was that of bus cleaner E. Ramulu (20), son of Mallaiah.
