“Forever in our hearts,” reads the caption on a large flex board containing photographs of the 94 children whose lives were snuffed out in the > towering inferno at the Sri Krishna High School in temple town Kumbakonam exactly a decade ago.
The photographs of the innocent minors on the mega board with flowers and installed bang opposite the defunct school building, on Kasiraman Street, moves even the passersby who pause for a moment taking a look at them.
Unable to control her grief, S. Jayalakshmi who lost her eight-year-old son Neelankandan in the gruesome tragedy, weeps inconsolably staring at the photographs. Similar are the feelings of other grief-stricken parents who had all assembled at Kasiraman Street, where a shamiana is erected, to pay floral tributes to their loved ones who perished in the blaze.
“July 16 is one date which I and the parents of the other 93 victims can never forget,” says Inbaraj who lost two sons — Anandaraj (10) and Praveen Raj (8).
The horrendous incident had completely shattered Mr. Inbaraj and wife Christy as they could only notice the charred bodies of their sons on that Aadi Friday in 2004. With the passage of time, the grief is supposed to wane. “But, I have started feeling the pain even more now,” says Mr. Inbaraj.
“Today my son would be in college. But, the tragedy snuffed out his life,” says Mahesh whose son Vignesh, who was in class III, perished in the fire.
“Years might have passed, but my son Neelakandan’s innocent face is still afresh in my memory,” says Ms. Jayalakshmi unable to control her tears. “I left my son in the school on that fateful day only to learn about his death moments later”.
