‘They loved to travel’: Shock, grief in Shalimar Bagh colony
GULMARG TRAGEDY Four members of a Delhi family are among the seven who died after their cable car crashed
The three-year-old appears puzzled. Standing outside her apartment she watches her mother talk about her best friend, Anagha Andraskar, to a group of people. Curious, she bends forward in an attempt to tap into their conversation.
“Where is Anagha? What happened to her? Who are all these people?,” she interrupts her mother and gets a prompt reply. “Nothing. I told you that the fairy took her away. She is fine. You please return to your room.” She steps back, looks around and returns to her balcony, where she often stood and spoke to Anagha about her day.
Four members of a family — Jayant Andraskar, his wife Manshea and two daughters Anagha and Janhvi, who went to Gulmarg for a holiday, were among seven who met a tragic death in Kashmir’s Gulmarg when a cable car was violently flung after a tree fell on the cable.
Jayant worked as a lecturer of Civil Engineering in Pusa institute, his wife was a home maker. While Anagha just joined nursery school, Janhvi was a Class 2 student.
“They loved to travel. They just went to Maharashtra for a wedding and returned last week. To go to Kashmir was a sudden plan. May be because of the weekend. They left on Friday and were to return on Tuesday,” Mohini, a neighbour, whose daughter studies with Anagha, said.
“The kids were so excited for the trip that the elder daughter asked her tuition teacher to get done with the class early as she had to sleep and wake up early morning to catch a flight. They had an early morning flight to Srinagar on Friday. In fact just a night before Manshea told me that they were going for a short trip with the kids and will be back on Tuesday and that I should take care of the house,” she added.
The unfortunate news came on Sunday evening after which the media thronged to the Shalimar Bagh residence of the family. That is when the neighbours realised that the family was no more. Their door was found to be locked.
“I got a call from one of our common friends when she saw the news on TV. I was numb when I heard about the accident. We then made a few calls to Srinagar and were told that they were fine. The police told us that they have been admitted,” Mohini said.
But we saw the visuals on TV. The policemen were carrying them to the ambulance. I could not see the faces but was really hoping and praying that they were fine. It is only now that I found out that they are no more. I do not know what to tell my three-year-old daughter. She has been asking me so many questions,” she added.
The family, hailing from Nagpur, had been staying in Shalimar Bagh for the past five years.