Geetha had insisted on Bangalore trip, says grieving family

BANGALORE: Geetha Lakshmi refused to eat when told by her parents that they were not going to Bangalore for Dasara vacation this year. But the girl was so determined to come that she managed to get her grandfather TK Murthy travel all the way to Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu to bring her to the city.
Recalling how Geetha implored him to come and take her to Bangalore, Murthy lamented that he should have ignored his little grand daughter’s pleas.
Geetha was the younger child of centering worker Shankar and homemaker Kasthuri. She was studying in class 3.
Geetha was to return home on Tuesday. On Monday, Geetha spoke to her parents on phone around 4.30pm. Kasthuri was expecting a call from the child later in the night. The call came but not from Geetha but Murthy, who informed Shankar about the tragedy.
Shankar and Kasthuri were shaken. They boarded the next bus to Bangalore that night and landed in the city at 7am on Tuesday.
Heart-broken by the turn of events, Shankar and Kasthuri were not in a position to utter a word as rescue workers went on drilling vents atop the storm water drain in Bilekahalli. Every time a team of workers emerged from the drain empty-handed, their faces shrunk further.
Squatting on the road, all that Kasthuri managed to say was: “She was studying in 3rd standard” and “She visited Bangalore every year”.
Shankar denied reports that his sister, Dhanalakshmi, was on phone and this resulted in the girl being unattended for when she slipped into the drain.
Along Bilekahalli road lined with tony apartment complexes, young mothers stood in the balconies. Some women walked down to Kasthuri, told her to trust God and assured that her daughter would be rescued. On their way back to their flats, they solemnly carried their children instead of letting them walk along the dug out pavement. The fear still lurked.