THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fourteen-year-old Arshan walked ahead to show their new home, still under construction, his feet in sandals a size too large. When asked about them, he smiled sheepishly.
They were his own, he said, bought recently. He chose them the way his father would have. His father never counted the cost when it came to his family, but was careful with every rupee he spent on himself.
“I’m still growing,” Arshan explained. “This way, I won’t need a new pair anytime soon.”
A Class IX student, Arshan R is the elder son of R Rajesh, who won Keralam’s heart with his final act. On August 1, during a flood rescue mission in Kannur, he gave his own life jacket to a farmer stranded in the swollen Kariangode river, and was swept away by the current.
The family is sliding into hardship and Arshan was the first to sense it, his mother said. Amid the confusion that followed his father’s death, he could not get his KSRTC concession card. A one-way ticket to school costs `15. With money running short, he now makes return journey on foot.
Three months after the tragedy, Rajesh’ family is struggling to make ends meet. With the government’s promise of compensation and a job for his wife yet to materialise, they are left unsure of their next step.
The family of five, including Rajesh’s parents and his wife Shafiya, lives in an old, cramped house at Kalliyoor in Thiruvananthapuram. Their new home, a modest single-storey house, is being built under the LIFE Mission housing scheme.
Shafiya pins hope on Chennithala’s job promise
The district collectorate is monitoring the work on the direction of the chief minister, who visited the family when he came to pay his last respects to Rajesh.
A swimming instructor and rappelling trainer at the Meenthulli Waterfalls in Kannur, 38-year-old Rajesh was the family’s main breadwinner. Shafiya, who earned Rs 10,000 a month as a helper at a private hospital canteen in the city, stopped working after the tragedy.
The only income now comes from a petty shop run by Rajesh’s father, Rajasekharan. The family has defaulted on a Rs17 lakh loan from the Kalliyoor Cooperative Bank and has been receiving recovery notices from the bank. On top of other debts, they have also taken small loans from individuals to make ends meet.
Disbelief is still written on the face of Shafiya, a Palakkad native who married Rajesh for love. She pins her hopes on the government job Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala promised when he visited their home.
“The minister told me about the job. Some newspapers reported that we would get `8 lakh as compensation. But nothing has materialised so far,” Shafiya said. A job, she hopes, will help her look after the children and Rajesh’s ageing parents.
With cash running short, the family has been putting off one expense after another. Rajesh’s mother Geetha, who has a chronic respiratory disease, has been advised inpatient treatment at a speciality hospital. “We cannot afford it. So I go to the nearby government hospital for inhalation twice a day,” she said.
Rajesh is the second son Geetha has lost. Two years ago, his younger brother died in a train accident. Arshan’s younger brother Abishek R is in Class 8 at another school. The children are yet to come to terms with Rajesh’s death.
“He was more like a friend to us. He let us grow our hair the way we wanted and even encouraged us to wear ear studs. We miss the outings with Rajeshachan, when he would buy us good food and clothes. Not a day goes by without us thinking of him,” Abishek said.