Ambegaon topper of talent exam among 19 students who perished

Sambhudas has been the class teacher of standard IV for the last two years and remembered her student with fondness and pride. “Manisha was an exceptionally bright girl and we had high hopes from her,” she said.

On the July 30, Manisha and 19 from the school perished in the landslide, while 53 other students were saved as they had not reached the school.

July 30 was also the last day for Sambhudas as she was transferred to a different school in Amboli village in Khed taluka.

“Malin is an exceptionally remote village and commuting there was a problem. There was no quarters for teachers, that is why I had asked for a transfer,” she said.

On July 30 she had reached the village by around 11 am  to find no trace of the houses or the white spire of the temple which used to greet her earlier. She could meet only two of her students.

The school building is one of the few constructions that has withstood the calamity and is serving as the headquarters of the rescue operations.

Of her class of 19 students, 10 have perished, the rest were saved as they stayed at a higher altitude than the main village.
Sambhudas said how Manisha was from a family of teachers. “Her father Machchindranath Zanjare was a teacher in a zilla parishad school in Darekarwadi village. That morning he was on his way to Pune on official work and survived. His, wife, two children and mother died,” she said.

As she left the village to go to her new position, she said she would remember students with fondness.

“I am yet to come to terms with the catastrophic turn of events, and it would time for me to understand how all of a sudden so many of the school students lost their lives. They were innocent,” she said.