In a case of tragic irony, 21-year-old twin sisters — Divya and Deepthi Pynda — lost their lives in the bus accident. Incidentally, Divya never wanted to go to Shirdi, but was convinced by her friends to board the bus. Her twin Deepthi, meanwhile, went along only because she wanted to spend time with Divya.
Divya had joined Tata Consultancy Services in Hyderabad in April. She had only last month completed her training along with her friends. All her friends wanted to visit Shirdi. Divya, though, wanted to relax over the weekend. However, she gave in to her friends’ request. Amrita Mallajosyula, Divya’s classmate from school, who lived in the adjacent apartment in the same building block, said fighting back tears, “PD (as Divya is fondly called) and her roommate Manasa, who also passed away, didn’t even want to go. This is disastrous.” After being convinced by her friends, Divya called Deepthi and asked her to come along for the trip. Deepthi agreed.
“Deepthi should not even have been on the bus,” Amrita added. Meanwhile, in Vizag, relatives are trying to shield the twins’ parents — Jagannadam and Rajyalakshmi — from the news of their deaths. Visitors have been prevented from going to see them and the television and mobiles have been kept away even as relatives wait for the bodies of the twins to arrive. “I realise my sin in blocking the message of my sisters’ death to their parents, but we have save at least the couple,” said Raju, the couple’s nephew. But by Saturday night, a pall of gloom descended on the twins’ house while the parents continue to lead a normal life, unaware of the tragic developments.