‘Respected Mummy and Papa. We are in good health here. You will be happy to know that I have passed my Maths paper. When you come to meet me in February, please get me a shampoo, a box of safety pins and two files. I promise my rank will be between 1st and 6th this time. Papa call me soon.’ Moments before the Adarsh Nivashi Shala came crashing down, Dharmishtha Choudhary was busy writing home. But the Standard 8 student did not live to post it. Like Dharmishtha, 14-year-old Payal Parmar was preparing a list of things she could buy her father Hasmukh Parmar for his birthday which was on January 26. Payal’s was among the last bodies to be retrieved. By that time, her elder sister, Daksha, had already been admitted to Janak Hospital in Vyara. Unconscious with shock, Daksha had suffered minor injuries. “Payal was the intelligent one. We admitted her to the Adarsh Nivashi Shala only a few months ago. On hearing news of the collapse, her cousin Paresh was the first to reach the site,” says Hasmukh Parmar. “Till about midnight, we were told that Payal was at a safe location, but she might have suffered injuries. Till we saw her body being brought out from the rubble,’’ says Paresh. “Now, we have no words except this,” says Hasmukh Parmar.
