From a boy who loved playing cricket to a girl who hoped to leave her village to study further – the seven children who died on Friday, when the roof at a government school in Rajasthan caved in, were full of big dreams and bigger ambition.
As their families grapple with grief and anger, The Indian Express looks at the lives that were lost.
Payal, 14
Always passionate about education, all Payal wanted to do was become a “government official”. “She kept asking my parents to send her to a private school,” her sister Sunita said. “She wanted to leave the village and go outside for higher education eventually.”
Her parents were thinking of sending her to a private school next year. Her mother, Sapna, is devastated. “Now it’s too late. I wish I had listened to her,” she said.
Priyanka, 12
One of eight sisters, Priyanka never missed school, even when it rained, said her aunt Manori Bai, with whom she was staying.
“She was enthusiastic about education and dreamt of becoming a teacher,” said Manori Bai. “She had only one goal – to get an education and a job. She said she didn’t want to stick around in the village. Her dream died with her.”
Kundan, 10
The youngest of three siblings, Kundan loved playing cricket and with marbles. His sister Laxmi, who studied in the same school, escaped. But Kundan wasn’t so lucky,
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“Unlike his brother, he never gave the future a thought,” says his distraught mother, Patwari Bai. “But he was always polite to people. We never had any complaints about him. And we never knew that this would be the last day to see his face,” she said.
Meena, 8, and Kanha, 6
In life, they were inseparable – they would eat together, play together, and go to school together. They always stood up for each other, always one against the world.
“They both died together,” their father Chotu Lal said. Unlettered himself, Chotu Lal had one dream for them – a good education. “I always wanted them to go to college and get a degree,” he said.
Kartik, 8
Son of a daily wage labourer, Kartik was the youngest – and according to his father, the naughtiest – of five siblings.
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“He was my future,” said his father, Harak Chand. “He was the most beloved child. My wife and daughters are in shock. We refused to believe it at first. I wanted to send him to Navodaya School to study for a better education.”
Harish, 8
Harish would frequently tell his family that he would one day “make a lot of money and build them a big house”. His brother Vikram, also a student of the school, was injured in the incident.
“I wanted him to be a government teacher. Harish used to go to school every day and was enthusiastic about studies,” Babu Lal said.
His brother Vikram, also a student of the school, was injured in the incident. He’s currently at the community health centre.
