The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Back to school after prayers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 21, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Back to school after prayers

Sandhya Soman

Parents hesitant to send wards to MGR Nagar school after Sunday's tragedy Parents hesitant to send wards back to scene of tragedy at MGR Nagar school

REST IN PEACE: Wreaths, candles and prayers offered on Tuesday by parents of students and relatives of stampede victims at the Arignar Anna Model Higher Secondary School in MGR Nagar. — Photo: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI: Candles were lit and pumpkins broken to ward off evil spirits and Lord Ganesha was appeased.

Only then did mothers let their little ones write their half-yearly exams at the Arignar Anna Model Higher Secondary School on Tuesday.

But the parents lingered in the corridors, the playground and particularly near the school gate, where 42 persons were killed in a stampede on Sunday.

Still afraid

They stood discussing how their young ones were afraid of going back to classrooms after seeing the bodies of relatives, neighbours and family friends lying dead at the school playground.

"How can we send our children back to a place where so many people died without fulfilling their wishes. The spirits will be still there. That's why we did the puja," said Vasanthi, an anxious parent, who also chipped in for organising the `puja.'

Tough time

The school authorities, in fact, had a tough time in the morning convincing the parents to let their children sit for the examinations.

"Nearly 100 parents came in the morning asking us to postpone examinations and keep the school shut for at least a week. How can we do that without authorisation from the Education Department?" asked a teacher.

While the authorities managed to conduct examinations for the high school students in the morning, it took some time for them to bring around the parents of the primary school students.

Most of the parents said they managed to banish their fears after organising a puja at the open-air auditorium to "appease the dead souls."

Close watch

But Roja Ramani from Annai Sathya Nagar kept a close eye on the school assembly before class IV and V students were shepherded to classrooms so they could have a go at the Tamil language paper.

"I want to see my son go into the classroom and not run around," she said looking at the playground, the favourite place of her son Arun Kumar and his friends.

Roja's neighbour E. Selvi said she had no answer to her son Karthi's question on Ezhumalai uncle, their next-door neighbour.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu