An inconsolable mother, a father too far, a child in the dark. A day after 12 young lives perished when an overloaded boat capsized at Harni lake in Vadodara, the families are grappling to come to terms with the loss.
At the Kishanwadi neighbourhood, Mazbina Faruk Sheikh (32), who lost her seven-year-old son Muawiya Faruk, tells his two-year-old brother that Faruk is “visiting Allah and will be back soon”.
Umar, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation, remains silent, sobbing every time he sees his mother break down.
All the children who died during the school picnic were under 15 years of age but of diverse faiths. The private institution, New Sunrise School, catered primarily to students from lower- and middle-income households.
Among the victims was 10-year-old Aashiya Khalifa, who had gone for the outing with her sister, Anaya (5). While Anaya survived, her sister did not. Relatives say the child has been in shock since then – she has been running a high fever and refuses to let go of a plastic teddy bear stick.
Their father moved to London four months ago to work in a salon, and the family had planned to eventually settle there. Qutbuddin Khalifa (48), the girls’ uncle, said, “They were supposed to visit their father for 15 days. Bookings were done and they were waiting for the visa.”
In a cruel twist of fate, it would instead be their father who would have to catch a flight from London to Vadodara on Thursday – to bury his daughter’s body.
Among the families, the despair is not without remorse – many parents were not keen on sending their children for the picnic, but relented when the little ones insisted. They also said they were not aware the picnic involved boating.
Kalpesh Nizam, who trades in electrical goods, lost his 10-year old son Vishwa Ninama. He said, “I was against him going for the picnic. A day before the trip, he threw a tantrum and kept on insisting, saying all his friends were going. He cried for two hours. So I relented.” His wife, Sandhyaben, added, “The day of the trip, we were told to drop our kids to school by 7.30 am. I woke up late that day, around 7.30 am, and hurriedly dropped him off. I think it was a sign that I should have heeded. If only I had woken up at 9 am…”
Nine-year-old Sakina Shaikh was another casualty. Accompanying her to the school excursion was her 13-year old sister Sofia, who survived. Their mother, Saira (34), said, “She had packed meticulously for the trip, including a second set of clothes for the waterpark. I had not permitted her to go initially but she kept on insisting. She wanted to fly kites on Uttarayan, but couldn’t find a partner, so she requested I let her go for the picnic.”
Altaf Hussein Mansuri (34), who runs a food business, lost his eight-year-old daughter Ayat. He too said he did not want her to go, but “she was stubborn because her best friend, Alisha Kothari, was going”. “Their bodies were placed on the same bed when we went to identify them at Janvi hospital yesterday,” he said.
Pankaj Shinde, 33, remained glued to his phone, revisiting videos of his 11-year old daughter Roshni Shinde dancing with abandon – either for social media reels or at Navratri. Fluent in Marathi, Hindi, English and Gujarati, Pankaj said he did not want her to go but agreed “because I’ve never stopped her from doing anything”. “She started getting ready a day earlier in anticipation of the picnic,” said Pankaj. Roshni had been in the school since class 1, when she was admitted under the RTE quota.
The management at New Sunrise School denied any lapse or fault on their part, with Russy Wadia, trustee and managing director, telling The Indian Express that an in-station school excursion does not require permission from the district education officer. But parents said the school is as much at fault as the agency managing the boat, which was overcrowded and had insufficient life jackets. The parents alleged they were not informed by the school of the mishap, and till date, no one has contacted them.
Nirali Machchhi (29), who lost her eight-year-old daughter Nancy, flashed her phone to show a ‘Picnic Group’ on WhatsApp. “The school had formed this group with us parents. Could they not have at least dropped a message that the boat has capsized so we could rush to the spot and save our children? Was it not the school’s responsibility to take care of our children?”