Bengaluru pothole victim Ashwin’s big dream was to buy a home for his mother

The 27-year-old died because of a neglected pothole and helmet-less riding just two minutes short of his home in Bengaluru. Mother and close friends recall his wishlist

The 27-year-old man who died because of a pothole accident in Bengaluru in the wee hours of Monday — fifth such in seven months — had dreams to buy a house for his mother, marry soon after, and participate in car rally racing.

Ashwin K Jodige is survived by his 45-year-old mother Vasudha, who raised him single-handedly by doing tailoring work at home after her husband, a data entry worker, passed away early on. Ashwin, their only child, was born in Rajajinagar.

Ashwin’s dreams were cut short by a pothole just two minutes from his home in M S Palya’s Muneshwara Layout, a low-rental neighbourhood the family had move to from Mathikere in January. Three days before his death, a woman had hit against the same pothole and Ashwin and his mother had hailed an auto for her to go to a hospital, Vasudha tells Metrolife. She had also warned Ashwin to steer clear of this pothole, which few residents told his friends, was lying neglected for six months.

“He had gone out on the bike to bring food for his mother when she called him up and said she had made chicken (sic). He dropped the plan and was riding back when the accident happened,” recalls Sai Ganesh P, Ashwin’s “college batchmate and benchmate” and fellow M S Palya resident. Sai’s parents are no more and Ashwin had lost his father, so the two were close.

The ‘food’ was Ashwin’s treat for his promotion, which was announced a month ago. He was an employee with the accounts department of a software firm in Marathahalli.

“Things had started looking up for Ashwin financially,” Sai sighed recalling his friend would do a part-time job at a service centre after college. Colleague and friend Chethan Gowda described him as “a smart and chill worker”. After a churn in the company, a few select employees were retained and Ashwin was one of them, Sai had learnt. He calls it the proof of “his hard work”.

There has been public outrage over pothole accidents but in this case, Ashwin was not wearing a helmet, which is against the law and which caused grave injuries to his head. Perhaps because it was a short ride in his locality but “he was not irresponsible”, Sai defends. A motorhead, he used to go on bike rides to promote social causes, and had “good quality safety gear”. “Had the streetlights been working, he would have seen the pothole,” he believes.

Bikes, cars, and off-roading were his prime hobbies, which “he got interested in because of cycle racing events in the school”, says his mother. “Earlier, Ashwin and I would restore second-hand cars as a side job. He was saving up to buy a home but also to buy accessories to build a dream car for racing. That night, he was riding an old bike he had restored as his normal scooter had punctured,” Sai shares.

A pall of gloom and anger has descended upon his close friends. Some like media professional Ganesh Desai are wary of potholed roads now and are trying “to reach home before the daylight goes out”.

“No parent, no sibling, no spouse should lose their family to a pothole accident. Good roads is our basic right,” Sai says. Chethan wants the government to take people’s lives seriously and “not fill potholes just ahead of elections”. “Ashwin’s mother is alone. People need families, not compensation,” he points to the apathy.

Mother: I want a job or pension

Ashwin’s mother Vasudha neither has relatives in Bengaluru nor does she want to return to her native in Haveri as “she doesn’t want to be a burden to anyone”, she says.

But his friends have been rallying for her, from taking her to the police station to helping with insurance claims.

Like friend Ganesh Desai, who accompanied her to meet Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath, “who has promised to give her a flat in Vadrahalli village”, about 5 km from her current residence, he informs. She is not aware of other compensation coming her way.

Her immediate ask from the government is to either give her a job or pension so “she can pay monthly rent (Rs 9,000 or so)”. Tailoring won’t be enough.

Ask her if she is satisfied with the compensation, Vasudha says, “What is happiness when my only child has gone… Ashwin wanted to build a house for me, drive me around in luxury cars and take me on teerth yatra. His dreams were my dreams.”