Speaking with a heavy heart...

Metrolife sought to speak with families, friends and colleagues of six of the nine deceased. After expressing antipathy towards the media for publishing wrong information and sensationalisation, the grieving relatives and friends shared and recollected the good old times

Benzie Antoinette Kumar
»The wounds of the Carlton Towers blaze are rankling those who lost their near and dear ones in the tragedy. Shantha Kumar, husband of Benzie Antoinette Kumar, who jumped to her death from the building, has given up fighting tears. Benzie's  jump brought to end their 13-year love-cum-arranged marriage. “I can still feel her presence in our house. I can’t believe that she is not with us," a distraught Shantha says.
“She was my soul and an inseparable part of me. I am a diabetic and she made sure that my diet didn’t go wrong and that I took my medicines on time. Now there’s nobody to remind me,” Shantha breaks down. Shantha hasn’t shown his two daughters – Natasha Kumar (11 years) and Nisha Kumar (8 years) — pictures that appeared in the papers and on television. “I didn’t want my children to know how their mother died. They will know as they grow up,” he says. Benzie’s older brother Desmond Patrick Snell pitches in saying, “she was my pet and I looked after her as a child and I still think she’s with us,” says Desmond.

Shantha Kumar was particularly upset that a section of the media had reported false information about him being abroad and that the dog was restless, “the media has given false information and I am upset,” he says.

Savitha R
»Thirty-year-old Savitha R, a senior relationship manager at Religare Macqurie firm was a regular at the departmental store closer home. They recall that Savitha came to the shop at least thrice a day. “She couldn’t speak Kannada or Tamil very well, but she spoke fluent Hindi. She called most vegetables as ‘poosnika’(meaning pumpkin in Tamil). So we nick-named her as ‘poosnika’,” Sharieff, the shopkeeper says. Jaffer his colleague pitched in saying that he remembers she would patiently wait for her turn to buy things when ever the shop was crowded. She never grumbled or criticised when the food was spoilt. “She would buy lots of potato chips ."

Surabhi Joshi
»Nirmala and her husband, Virendra Kumar Joshi, a retired police officer of Uttar Pradesh, are unable to realise what has hit them. Their daughter Surabhi Joshi jumped off the Carlton Towers in a fit to save herself.   
Their daughter, Surabhi, had left their home in Aliganj in Uttar Pradesh to work in Bangalore. “She was a brilliant student and one of my brightest  children. She was to be married soon. She was efficient and would exude so much positive energy where ever she went. There was never a dull moment in her life,” Virendra Kumar Joshi told Metrolife from Uttar Pradesh. 

Just as any other proud father Virendra Kumar Joshi just couldn’t stop raving about his daughter. “It’s a bad thing that has happened to us. Thanks to newspaper and television coverage, friends and relatives from across the country poured into my house. But our loss is irreplaceable,” he says.
Joshi hopes that buildings in the City would conform to safety standards. “No father should ever lose his child to a tragedy like this. I am one of those unfortunate fathers,” he says.

Fayaz Pasha
»Ramesh Srinivas, a businessman, remembers Fayaz Pasha as a very committed young boy who wouldn’t shirk work. “Pasha was a brave boy, he never jumped off the building but slipped off the sixth floor. Fayaz was always willing to take on as much work as possible,” Ramesh says.  
Ramesh observes that although an office boy, Pasha was ambitious in his own way. “He wanted to do a course in computers and study further,” says Ramesh.  
Rajesh Subramaniam
»Suresh Bhat, a colleague of Rajesh Subramaniam says, “Rajesh and I were working on a project. He’s brilliant and came up with ideas at the drop of a hat. He was always cheerful and never let work stress get to him. I still can’t believe that a man like him would take such as extreme step.”

Akhil Uday
Uday Vijayan, founder and CEO of Experience Ideas, and his wife are inconsolable. They are struggling to come to terms that their son, Akhil Uday was one among those who jumped off Carlton Towers. 
Uday says, “This is something that we didn’t ask for or bargained for in life. Akhil was an extremely strong boy and he was just as ambitious as any other 23-year-old boy. The last call that Uday’s father received from Akhil was at 2.30 pm. “It was one of those regular calls. He sounded cheerful and happy as he always does,” says Uday.
 Uday found out only recently that Akhil seemed to have inspired a lot of people in his office. “We had pinned a lot of hopes on Akhil. We have a daughter who is a special child. Perhaps this made Akhil a strong and loving individual,” says Uday and adds, “I read from the newspapers that he was among the first to alert the fire brigade. I am proud of him because he never proved selfish and rose to the occasion.”
 Uday recalls that Akhil had a fetish for cars. “Whenever we went on long drives, Akhil would point out at a car and say ‘Dad I am gonna pick up one like that for you.’ Apart from that he loved rock music and was carefree just as any other young boy of his age would be.