HYDERABAD: Three unrelated men, who had different milestones and aspirations, met on Monday morning for a few fleeting seconds, after which they were all killed in a horrific accident. Forty-year-old auto driver B Dashrath had just dropped his children in school. He then went to his regular spot at Gachibowli X roads, unaware of what fate had in store.
“Just yesterday Dashrath took his children to a swimming pool to celebrate one of their cousins birthday party. Today he’s gone,” said his brother Raju before breaking down. “What will we tell the children? I have no answers for them. He was the sole breadwinner in the family,” says Raju. Dashrath is survived by his wife and two children.
Janardhan Shivaji was living in the USA for the last three years. He was part of an on-site project team of Capgemini there. A data analyst, Janardhan had to abruptly return as his visa could not be renewed. He had landed in Hyderabad from USA only a week ago, and on Monday he was returning from his home in Bengaluru.
“He was supposed to return to the US and he was in the process of renewing his visa papers,” says colleague Subba Rao.
“He joined work immediately after returning to India. This weekend he left for Bengaluru to visit his family.” Janardhan is survived by his wife, 6-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son. “We were all so fond of Jana, I cannot believe that life can be so cruel,” says Subba Rao. Auto driver Abdul Hameed was in Gachibowli only by chance. His regular route is miles away. A resident of Tadbun, Abdul went to Gachibowli to drop a passenger he had picked up from Old City. Then, he thought of taking a few extra trips there before heading home. But, the speeding bus cut his life short.
Abdul’s daughter’s wedding is almost fixed, but tragedy struck by then. “We had started doing up the house, even purchased stuff. Now we don’t know what to do,” sobbed 15-year-old Fareed, Abdul’s oldest son. Fareed now has the daunting duty of supporting his family of three sisters, brother and mother.
Dashrath’s eyes donated
Showing incredible courage at a time of tragedy, the family members of Dashrath decided to donate his eyes. After their bodies were brought in by 10 am to the mortuary for postmortem, the doctors found that his eyes were viable for harvesting. The family, when told this agreed