Death of Ryan student- ‘Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna’: Poem his father put in his blazer that day

Divyansh joined the school in 2013. Friends and family described the child as someone who was mischievous, effervescent and outspoken. “He loved going out to play. At home, he liked kicking the ball with his sister. In school, he had joined karate classes and loved playing badminton. The only sport he wasn’t too fond of was swimming,” said Divyansh’s mother, Mamta, a nurse at AIIMS.

Divyansh’s parents said he did join swimming classes in school, but discontinued them after a year. “There were two things he did not like ? swimming because the water got in his ears, and the dark. Come evening, he did not dare entering the terrace of the house,” said Mamta.

He was particularly bright in Mathematics and English and loved to draw and colour. “I am not very good in English and he always tried to teach me new words. He had recently won a gold medal in a mathematics quiz at school,” she said.

Divyansh’s tuition teacher, Dipti, said, “He liked Maths and English, but drawing and colouring were his favorites. He would finish his work quickly, and then pick the crayons. He drew so many things for me.”

The child’s latest acquisition was a bicycle, a gift from his father, which he loved riding and showing around. “His house is quite near mine, so he came at night on Friday to show me the bicycle. He was just beginning to get a hang of cycle racing,” added Dipti.

The child’s grieving parents say they are shocked by the school’s response to his death. Divyansh was found lying in a water tank on the school premises. They hope to meet Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia as soon as they return to Delhi. They left for their home in Dausa, Rajasthan, after the post-mortem. “We don’t trust the school. We want the Education Minister to intervene and do something,” said Meena.

The school has expressed condolence at the death of its student and said it has formed its own inquiry committee. Parents of other parents students of the school have expressed shock over Divyansh’s death. “We are shocked at how the principal reacted. But more than that, we are really anxious about the safety of our own child at school,” said R K Yadav, father of a Ryan student.