The victims of the Vivekananda Road flyover tragedy were in the prayers of every devotee who attended a precursor of Hanuman Jayanti at Mani Square on Sunday.
The prayers were organised by Shree Salasar Bhakta Vrinda (Kolkata), that has many members in Salt Lake but whose head office is in the neighbourhood around Ganesh Talkies where the accident took place.
“I have been feeling very sad ever since I heard about the accident but singing bhajans today along with so many other people has comforted me. My faith in humanity is getting restored somewhat,” said a devotee Rajsree Sarawagi.
The congregation was led by Hind Motors Seva Samity, a bhajan group, in singing Sundar Kand and Hanuman Chalisa but this was preceded by everyone observing two minutes of silence in memory of the departed.
“Some people had suggested we cancel this meet in view of the tragedy but then we thought it would be a better idea to pray for the victims together,” said secretary of the group, Santosh Sureka.
Several devotees, who were in the Burrabazar area on the day of the collapse, had helped victims proving that they practise what they preach. “My fellow jewellers and I were preparing for a march in the area that day when the flyover collapsed. We left everything and rushed to the spot,” said Ravi Karel, a resident of AB Block.
“Ravi and his men provided food and water to relief workers and helped cordon off the crowd. They worked like Lord Hanuman himself,” added Vineet Poddar, whose office houses the group’s registered office.
Some like seven-year-old Tanay Jain said they prayed to Hanuman to fly to the rescue next time. “I prayed to Hanumanji that next time a flyover comes crashing he may lift it and pull it back to safety,” said the boy confidently as mother Sangita quickly prayed that there never be a next time like that.
Sanjay Poddar, joint secretary of the group, said that it was formed in 2009 with seven members. “We hold many social activities round the year. Our membership has swelled to 100-plus and they have all come with their families today.
Hanuman Jayanti is on April 22 but we held this meet as a precursor,” he said.
