Mr. Sinnur is sending a series of SMS to his missing children since the boat accident in vain. But Abhilash and Apurva have not responded yet forcing their parents into the abyss of agony and anguish.
“I don’t know where my children are. Someone saw them entering into a vehicle after the accident. But I have not seen them since the accident,” a sobbing Mr. Sinnur, an employee of the Defence Research Development Organization, Hyderabad, said.
Whenever a vehicle draws into the portico of the Aranaya Nivas, Malathy, his wife, leaps from the seat in the hope of meeting her children and returns to the seat after realising that they have not returned.
The visibly upset mother sobs at times in memory of her missing children. And the efforts of others to console her had failed.
Mr. Sinnur and Ms. Malathy were in the ill-fated boat and their children were seated near them at the time of the accident. Abhilash is an engineering student and Apurva is in class 10. Though the family hails from Bangalore, they have been settled in Hyderabad for the past few decades.
Everyone in the hotel lobby was speaking in hushed voice as if not to hurt the grieving couple. The hotel staff were also taking extra care to console the couple. They brought them water and words of comfort at times.
“Both of my children were carrying mobile phones. They might be receiving the SMS but their phones could not be reached. The phones might have even gone dead after falling into the water. I don’t know what to do,” said the helpless father.
Ms. Malathy wept uncontrollably as a few survivors, who were seated beside her bid good bye and wished her that she would meet her children soon.
“I had gone to the three hospitals in the area where the dead and the injured were admitted. I have even checked the dead bodies kept there but could not find my children,” said Mr. Sinnur in a broken voice.
In the next moment, he regains his composure and hopes that they might have got admitted in some hospitals in the Tamil Nadu.
The management of the hotel had sent one of its staff members with the driver of Mr. Sinnur to some hospitals in Theni where some of the injured passengers were reportedly admitted.
Adjusting his spectacles, Mr. Sinnur occasionally stares into the screen of his mobile phone hoping for an SMS or a call from his children.
The couple are waiting at the hotel lobby for an SMS or a messenger who will bring them good news.
