Navale bridge accident turned day of prayer into family’s deepest loss

What was meant to be a day of prayer, gratitude, and celebration ended as a tragedy that has left Swatee’s sister Komal, her husband Santosh, and her children Ankita and Sarthak shattered. Her daughter is in Class 10 and son is a first year data science student.

According to neighbours, Swatee had undertaken a navas (vow) for her father, who had previously been paralysed, to recover his mobility. Thursday marked the fifth and final of her visits to the Narayanpur temple. She decided to take her parents along for the last darshan. It was also her daughter Ankita’s birthday, and her friend had come from Tirupati to celebrate. Little Mokshita, only three, insisted on accompanying Swatee for the drive.

“It was her daughter’s birthday, they were going to celebrate. They had just got a call saying she was reaching soon,” said Sumit Shrivastav, a neighbour. “She left at 3 pm, the accident happened at 5:30 pm. We got to know about the accident at 8:30. At 9:30, we got to know she was no more. They weren’t going to take the 3-year-old with them, but she was adamant. It’s just questions and questions, no answers. I’m so scared to leave home. Anything can happen.”

Her friends struggled to process the loss of a woman remembered for her warmth, hard work, and the effortless way she built relationships.

“She had a happy face, she was so beautiful, always happy and cheerful, never hesitated to help anyone, she was the type of person to rush to someone’s aid even at midnight, I’m getting goosebumps just taking her name,” said Kanchan Joshi, a close associate of the Navalkars. “Since 15 to 20 years she has been running her beauty parlour, she was so hardworking I never would have imagined such a thing.”

“She never treated us like workers, she always treated us like family,” said Tanya Temjhare, one of her staff members. “She never yelled at us, she created a bond with everyone. She used to say it’s your parlour, you have to look after it. Clients used to come from faraway areas like Undri, Katraj, Hadapsar, Kothrud, that was the connection she created.”

“I know her for 10 years, she was always cheerful, always had a smile on her face, never hurt anyone, cared about everyone,” said Shubhangi Pandkar, a regular at the parlour. “If the clients didn’t have money, she’d tell them not to worry about it. She had 2 kids. Her sister Komal lost her parents as well as her older sister, what will the family do?”

“I know her for 18 years, I work at a house in the building she used to live in earlier. They recently shifted out. She was always cheerful. Many times she would give me lifts to places I wanted to go. We met just a few days ago at the grocery store. I heard about the accident but got to know much later it had claimed her, ”said Bharati Akhade.

The accident claimed the life of 8 and left about 13 others injured after a speeding truck collided with multiple vehicles in Navale Bridge area on Katraj Dehu Road Bypass of Pune-Bangalore Highway on Thursday evening.