The full extent of the Gyaneswari Express tragedy is finally becoming clear. In one case, a family has been forced to hide the death of two children from their mother, and in another, a family had to go ahead with a marriage despite several relatives left dead in the train tragedy.
Noori Gajji is still waiting anxiously at her house in Vashi for news about her two children who were returning from Howrah on the ill-fated Gyaneshwari Express. She has not been told that both her children perished in the mishap. Her husband Wajid (40) was returning from Kolkata with his children Meena (8) and Rakibul (10). Wajid was injured and has been admitted to a hospital in Kharagpur.
“We learned on Sunday that both the children had died. But we haven’t told their mother, as she is still in a state of shock,” Saiful Gajji, Wajid’s brother, told this newspaper over the phone from Kolkata. He added, “I managed to speak with my brother on the telephone, and learned that he was in a hospital in Kharagpur. The children were missing, and we kept hoping that they were still alive,” Saiful said.
The family has been left traumatised as the bodies of the children are crushed beyond recognition. “The final rites will be performed in Kolkata. But we still have to tell Noori,” added Saiful.
In another case, Harkesh Gupta (22), brother to Antop Hill resident Jairam Gupta, was travelling in the Gyaneshwari Express with his sister’s mother-in-law Prema (45). They were coming to Mumbai for a family marriage. However, with both of them dead, the family is shell-shocked. “We can’t believe that they are no more. Though we have to go on with the marriage, it will now be a very low-key affair,” said a family member.