He wanted to celebrate Diwali with newborn

NEW DELHI: Vipin Joshi was 10-years-old when his father Trilok Chand Joshi, the only breadwinner for a family of six, had collapsed and died twenty years ago while lifting a heavy stone at a construction site in Bageshwar district, Uttarakhand.

Trilok Chand had undergone a surgery because of some stomach ailment before the incident. But even before he could recover completely, the family’s financial crisis had forced him to return to his job as a labourer and die while earning livelihood.

Joshi’s younger brother Mahesh Joshi said that the sudden death of their father had landed them in trouble. Arranging food for the family became tough after. Being the elder son, Vipin Joshi had no choice but to take the responsibility of the family. He started working as a labourer with his mother and somehow completed his Class 12.

“My brother was just 19 when he went to Dubai for a job. In 2007, he returned to Delhi and started working in a restaurant. He also bore the expenses of the weddings of both our sisters. For us, he was not only our brother but also our father,” said Mahesh.

Joshi is survived by his wife Pooja, one-year-old daughter Harshita, mother and four siblings.

According to Mahesh, Vipin had last spoken to his wife on last Sunday and had promised her that he would come home to celebrate the first Diwali of their daughter.

“However, luck had something else in store,” said Mahesh.

“I could not muster courage to inform anybody in the family about the murder. But my mother and sister-in-law saw the photo of my brother in a news channel and learnt about his death,” Mahesh said.