PIRAVOM (ERNAKULAM): From early morning, the narrow Canal Bund Road connecting Veliyanad to Vattappara was filled with mourners both on foot as well as in vehicles. All of them were en route to ‘Valakathu’, the ancestral home of VR Baiju, the deceased driver-cum-conductor of the KSRTC Volvo bus which had met with a deadly accident at Avinashi near Coimbatore during the wee hours on Thursday.
As a long line of mourners paid homage to the mortal remains wrapped in white and kept in a mobile freezer, a picture of Baiju pasted nearby was all that remained of a fine human being cut down in his prime. Equally heart-wrenching was the sight of Baiju’s wailing wife Kavitha and daughter Bhavitha, who was inconsolable, as they struggled to cope with the numbing sense of loss. After customary rites, the body was placed on the pyre near the house triggering an anguished cry from the assembled crowd. V R Biju, brother of Baiju, lighted the funeral pyre.
“Earlier, we had decided to keep the body in the morgue of a private hospital at Piravom till Friday morning. But Kavitha pressurised us to change the decision. Whenever any of the villagers needed any help, Baiju was always around,” recalled Sasi, a relative.
“He belonged to the SSLC Class of 89 at St Paul High School, Veliyanad, and students of the batch had formed an alumni association, Baiju was one of its key members. During the devastating flood of 2018, he had brought relief materials collected by Bengaluru-based Malayalis in his bus. He had also helped many Malayalis studying and working in Bengaluru by handing over books, certificates and other materials without taking any money,” said Sasi.