Kewala Devi, burnt to death on Thursday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Ram Bahadur Shaw, 50, did not mind going from shop to shop, selling loaves of bread. The unlettered man would toil from dawn to dusk to eke out an education for his three children.

“They must not live with the handicap of illiteracy. I will do everything to educate my children so that they live with their heads held high,” Ram Bahadur would tell his neighbours at 276 GT Road.

His first-born, Hridesh Shaw, a student of Maria’s Day School in Howrah, was striving hard to ensure his father’s labours didn’t go waste. In his Board exams, he topped his school with 97 per cent.

The 18-year-old had promised his father he would do even better at his school-leaving exams next year.

But with hardly a fortnight to go for his Class XI finals, Hridesh’s dreams were reduced to ashes on Thursday morning. As he sat amidst the remains of what used to be their home till late on Wednesday, Hridesh was inconsolable.

On Wednesday, he had been burning the midnight oil at his private tutor’s home in Shalimar, preparing for his impending exams.

By the time he rushed home on Thursday, his mother Kewala Devi had been burnt to death, and his father Ram Bahadur and sister Deepali were battling for their lives with severe burns. Brother Dilesh, though, is back home.

The Shaw’s one-room home had been charred beyond recognition. And somewhere in the pile of rubble were his precious books and notes.

Ram Bahadur barely brought home Rs 3,000 every month, so Hridesh would manage to get “the expensive books” from ex-students of his school.

“He is such a brilliant student. It will be a tragedy if he cannot continue with his studies,” said Mohammed Rizwan, standing by his grieving friend.

Hridesh’s brother Dilesh is a Class IX student of Maria’s Day School, while sister Deepali is in Class VI of Shalimar Hindi High School.

For the past two months, Hridesh and his siblings were having a tough time studying at home as landlord Kashinath Jaiswal had allegedly disconnected the electricity line to try and force an eviction.

“I had to go to my private tutor’s house to study at night.... I protested against Kashinath’s atrocities, but I never thought something like this would happen,” sobbed Hridesh.