MOSAIAHPETA (VISAKHAPATNAM DIST):It is a tragic story that no one wants to be part of. Twenty-two persons belonging to the same family from Mosaiahpeta died in an accident at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage near Dowleswaram while returning from a pilgrimage. Now, there is no one left at their home to wail over them, let alone perform the last rites.
Fortunately, Good Samaritans in the neighbourhood extended a helping hand to the only two survivors of the family. While some arranged tent and chairs for those visiting the house to grieve for the family, a few others made arrangements for the final rites, and some took care of the survivors of the family at Mosaiahpeta. Despite a pall of gloom descending on the village, people volunteered to work at the residence of the deceased.
Sitting in the verandah of his neighbour, Egala Venkulu, the eldest member of the Egala family awaited the bodies of his family members and was keen to have a glimpse of his brother’s grandson Sai Kiran, the lone survivor of the family. “Of my two sons, my eldest son died long ago and Appa Rao took care of the entire family. He got his sister married off and took care of my other responsibilities as well. I wanted him to light my pyre. But now, he is making me perform his last rites,” lamented Venkulu, who has been in a daze since he was informed about the tragic accident.
The relatives and neighbours were all praises for Appa Rao, who was known as an expert driver in the area, and had recently purchased his own vehicle (Toofan) by availing bank loan. “Before commencing regular travel services, he wanted to take his entire family on a pilgrimage. While his septuagenarian father stayed back at the neighbour’s residence due to his old age, all the other family members went on the pilgrimage,” recalled Raghu, panchayat secretary of Chodapalli.
Just like Raghu, many villagers and neighbours donned the role of Good Samaritans and extended help in making arrangements for the final rites of the family. “Appa Rao is a good man and had cordial relations with many people in the village. He helped the needy. We were happy for him, as his two sons had settled down and the third one, who recently completed his engineering, was about to join a job. But then, this tragic incident occurred,” averred Kommuju Venkat, who runs a tiffin centre at Atchutapuram Junction.
The relatives said that the deceased kept in touch with all the family members and called them up before starting off from Vijayawada on Friday night.
They were scheduled to reach Mosaiahpeta Saturday morning and were then going to perform a puja at their residence.