<p>“Don’t worry...don’t cry...I am there...I will take care of you,” she vowed amid racking sobs, bringing tears to every eye in the room of their modest house in Champapet on the city outskirts. <br /><br />It is a long wait for the family as arrangements are being made to bring the body home by Friday. Friends, relatives and the media crowded the house as the news of Prashanth’s death streamed in through the media. Prashanth was shot dead while he was working at a convenience store. <br /><br />Swati, who is a medical student, recalled that Prashanth had called her up on Sunday morning and had given her a pep talk as she had an exam the next day. He promised to call her on Monday morning, when it would have been Sunday night in the US but the call never came. “I waited and waited for his call but it never came...perhaps he was already dead by then,” said a sobbing Swati. <br /><br />Prashanth initially joined the merchant navy but could not cope with the sea sickness. He was also a good dancer and worked as a junior artist in some Telugu movies, family members said. He met with his death less than two months of landing in the US. He left on January 28 as he got admission in the MBA programme of the International Technological University at Sunnyvale in California. <br /><br />However, he decided to move to Oklahoma as under the new virtual study system in the US, a student can stay anywhere in the country while doing the course in a college. <br /><br />Apparently, Prashanth opted for Oklahoma as the city’s wages are almost twice as those in other cities. The crime history of the city was no deterrent as G Chandrasekar, his cousin revealed. <br /><br />When Prashanth called up Chandrasekar last week to seek his advice since he had lived in the US for five years, he strongly recommended New York rather than Oklahoma. Apparently, higher wages was the attraction that turned out to be fatal, said Chandrasekar.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry...don’t cry...I am there...I will take care of you,” she vowed amid racking sobs, bringing tears to every eye in the room of their modest house in Champapet on the city outskirts. <br /><br />It is a long wait for the family as arrangements are being made to bring the body home by Friday. Friends, relatives and the media crowded the house as the news of Prashanth’s death streamed in through the media. Prashanth was shot dead while he was working at a convenience store. <br /><br />Swati, who is a medical student, recalled that Prashanth had called her up on Sunday morning and had given her a pep talk as she had an exam the next day. He promised to call her on Monday morning, when it would have been Sunday night in the US but the call never came. “I waited and waited for his call but it never came...perhaps he was already dead by then,” said a sobbing Swati. <br /><br />Prashanth initially joined the merchant navy but could not cope with the sea sickness. He was also a good dancer and worked as a junior artist in some Telugu movies, family members said. He met with his death less than two months of landing in the US. He left on January 28 as he got admission in the MBA programme of the International Technological University at Sunnyvale in California. <br /><br />However, he decided to move to Oklahoma as under the new virtual study system in the US, a student can stay anywhere in the country while doing the course in a college. <br /><br />Apparently, Prashanth opted for Oklahoma as the city’s wages are almost twice as those in other cities. The crime history of the city was no deterrent as G Chandrasekar, his cousin revealed. <br /><br />When Prashanth called up Chandrasekar last week to seek his advice since he had lived in the US for five years, he strongly recommended New York rather than Oklahoma. Apparently, higher wages was the attraction that turned out to be fatal, said Chandrasekar.</p>
