Pall of gloom descends on Satwik’s house

A pall of gloom had descended on residence of 24 year old IT professional Satwik Shastri in Panduranganagar in the City.

The mood inside the house was sombre as Satwik’s mother Usha Shastri, a senior scientist in ISRO, sat in her room with tears in the eyes surrounded by several relatives and family members. Satwik’s younger brother Sachin Sashtri, a college student, was by her side.

Satwik had set out from his residence “Vinayasa” around 2 pm on the fateful Saturday to join his friends Ashish Shenoi and Anupam Mannur for a trek into the Bannerghatta forest area, never to return.

The news of Satwik Shastri’s death had spread in the neighbourhood and the residents of the locality knew about the tragedy that befell the Shastri household. Apart from relatives, several media personnel also thronged the house.

Satwik’s neighbour K Parameshwar Bhat, who is also the Secretary of Pandurangaranagar Resident’s Welfare Association, said Satwik’s parents learnt about their son missing from the trekking expedition only late on Saturday. “They learnt that Satwik was missing around 11 pm. By midnight, the word spread in the neighbourhood. I also learnt about it at 12 midnight”, he said.

Mr Bhat was among the neighbours of Satwik, who had also camped in the forest area along with Satwik’s mother and father Dinesh Shastri for two days when the authorities were carrying out the search operations. Sadananda Adiga, another neighbour, said he knew Satwik since his childhood and expressed his sorrow over the tragedy.

Mrs. Shastri’s brother Sudheer said they would have been better prepared for the tragedy had they known that the youngsters had heard mysterious animal sounds in the forest area during their trek.