Uncle of car crash victim urges road discipline at Bistupur campus condolence meet 

The mood was sombre and eyes were misty as Class XII student Hardev Singh's body was placed on the podium at his alma mater, St Mary's English High School in Bistupur, Jamshedpur, during a condolence assembly on Friday, a day after the 18-year-old died in a highway accident near Ranchi.

More than 2,000 schoolchildren sang the hymn Lord, I'm coming home by William J. Kirkpatrick, but the heaviness in their voices quickly changed into resolve and their hands raised in sync the minute Hardev's uncle took centre stage and urged them to take a pledge to abide by road safety rules.

"Children, today you must take a pledge... You must promise that this won't happen to you - that your body will not be brought to school. You must vow to drive carefully; wear seat belts; use helmets while riding bikes; follow traffic rules; and never speed," exhorted 65-year-old S.S. Chand, a former deputy general manager with TRF Limited and resident of Ramdas Bhatta in Bistupur.

The pledge understandably resonated most with Hardev's classmates.

"We heard the news on TV. It was distressing. Hardev was a do-gooder - always helpful and jovial. He had a smile plastered on his face. Despite being a pure science student, his ambition was to serve the country. He wanted to crack the NDA entrance instead of seeking a berth in some trendy engineering course," recalled Akash Singh, a twelfth grader and resident of Kadma who shared a classroom bench with Hardev.

Rishabh Kumar, a resident of Adityapur and also a benchmate, said Hardev's accident had taught them an important lesson in life. "It is never a good thing to lie to one's parents. One must also never ignore traffic rules," the teenager said.

Hardev was taking a 130km road trip to Rock Garden in Kanke with his two school friends, apparently without the knowledge of their parents, when their speeding car flipped and rolled on NH-33, on the outskirts of the capital, on Thursday morning.

While Hardev was buried under the mangled cherry WagonR. Classmates Siddhant Narayan (18) at the wheel and Abhijeet Anand (17), residents of Adityapur and Tayo Colony in Gamharia, respectively had to be hospitalised with head and back injuries.

Uncle Chand, speaking to The Telegraph after the 30-minute condolence meeting, said it was a cruel irony that Hardev was killed in a road accident. "My nephew was always mindful about traffic rules. He could not drive a car, but could ride a bike. He never rode on highways in fear of rash driving by heavy vehicles."

The two other St Mary's students who met with the accident are out of danger. Both were brought to Tata Main Hospital from Ranchi on Thursday night. Siddhant is still recuperating from head injuries, but is stable, while Abhijeet was discharged on Friday afternoon.

Chand maintained that last rites of Hardev would be performed at Parvati Ghat in Bistupur by Friday.

"Earlier, the family had decided to wait for both his elder sisters - Manpreet Kaur and Jasbir Kaur - to arrive from Canada and Bhubaneswar, respectively. But now, we won't be waiting for Manpreet who will reach in a couple of days. Jasbir has arrived," he added.

Should all schools make students take the pledge? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com