JAIPUR: The tragedy of losing young parents to Covid-19 is so enormous that it has silenced their kids into unexpressed grief. And for the grandparents for whom the small world they owned meant everything, it is simply cruel. Urvi and Krati (names changed) are 12 and 5 years old; their ailing parents had to lock them in a room so that they stayed away from infection. When it didn’t help things, Kavita called her in-laws from Bhopal to Kota on May 7, saying Umesh, her husband, was in a very bad condition and that for the sake of kids they must reach Bhopal where the couple lived.
“His CT score was 12 and he was on glucose. Kavita herself was in a bad condition and she told us that their illness had forced her to confine their daughters to home,” says a sobbing R P Sharma (67).
Bringing his son’s family to Kota was a major issue as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh both were under lockdown. Luckily, Sharma’s second daughter-in-law Himani Bhatia had a friend who worked in the Chief Minister’s office.
Through her help, an ambulance with oxygen support brought Umesh, Kavita and their daughters to Kota on May 7 night. In Kota, the Sharmas struggled to get hospital beds for his son and daughter-in-law. By 3 am, they found beds for Umesh and Kavita at Radha Krishan Hospital.Sharma says they did
everything possible.
“If they asked us to get some injections or medicines, we got them no matter how much they cost. If there was an oxygen shortage, we organised that,” says Sharma.Umesh passed away on May 13 followed by Kavita the next day. Urvi is in seventh standard and is Covid-positive, the younger one Krati at 5 is does not really understand where her parents have gone. “I don’t know how we will take care of these girls,” says Sharma. “How long will I and my wife live to take care of our granddaughters?”His second daughter-in-law Himani Bhatia has promised to look after the two sisters.
“We did whatever was possible to save their parents. I have three children of my own. But with Urvi and Krati, I now feel I have five children. We will do our best to take care of them,” says Himani.