“Do things for people, not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are” – Harold S. Kushner. I can affirm that our joy was complete, our love deep and our lives full as we shared the pain and agony of two unknown persons at the loss of their loved one, in an unexpected train tragedy, which took away the life of a young boy, Mr. Premanand (Prem), on the dark night of 4 May 2022. Mrs. Pampa along with her only younger brother, Prem, and her husband Mr. Tapas Chandra boarded a train on 3 May to Bangalore to earn their livelihood. Two had confirmed tickets for sleeper class, while Mr. Prem had a waiting list ticket. The three decided to adjust in 2 berths, after paying the fine to the ticket collector. They took turns to sleep for a few hours. Prem walked up to his sister and brother-in-law and told them to sleep and decided to sit near the door of the compartment for a while. Train finally arrived at Yeswanthpur station, and the couple got down from the train and waited for Prem. Prem never got down, even after all the passengers deboarded. The panicked couple started hunting for Prem and searched the entire train frantically hoping that he might be sleeping somewhere. Anxiety and fear gripped them. They approached the railway police and lodged a missing complaint.
On 5 May at around 5.30 pm the couple received a call from the police that Prem’s body was found on a railway track near Venkatachalam station about 15 kms away from Nellore station. On hearing the sad news, they left for Nellore and reached on 6 May. Their dreams were shattered. They found themselves in a strange place, speaking a strange language. Even in such a sorrowful state, the couple had to go through the harassment of the police and demand for money at every step. Mrs. Pampa became frozen when she saw her lifeless brother with whom she had shared a lot of joyful moments. They faced much difficulty to get the postmortem done. They could not think of transporting the body to West Bengal as the cost of shifting by road was beyond their capacity. Ms. Rosey, staff of the Labour Migration unit got this news, who in turn contacted Fr. Joseph Xavier SJ, the Director. Fr. Joe asked Sr. Lilly ED JMJ (ISI), working at ISI in the Social Inclusion and Democracy Unit to contact JMJ sisters in Nellore. JMJ sisters of St. Joseph’s Convent, Dargamitta, was moved with compassion plunged into action immediately. Sisters started enquiring through various sources the chances to transport the body by rail cargo service. Transporting the body through rail service was found to be difficult because of the legal procedures involved. Understanding the difficulties, sisters reached the Government Hospital to aid the young couple and learnt that the couple had decided to cremate the body of Prem in Nellore as it was not feasible to shift the body to West Bengal. “How can we explain this mysterious death to Prem’s parents?”, haunted Mr. Tapas Chandra and Mrs. Pampa.
As the couple were asked to collect the documents on the following day, JMJ sisters brought them to the convent and accommodated them. More than a place to stay, the couple needed words of consolation, a shoulder to lean on and to cry. Sisters were with them, and their presence meant a lot to the couple more than words of consolation. “We were with them. Every sister of the community ensured that the couple were comfortable and ate something. Sisters prayed for the repose of the soul of Prem and prayed for the family”, said Sr. Bertillia JMJ, the Animator of the community.
The following day two sisters accompanied them to the cremation ground to collect the ashes of Prem and then proceeded to the railway police station to complete the documentation process. The presence of sisters gave them a ray of hope. Sisters also provided them with some monetary help and arranged their travel back home, with the ashes of Prem. The couple left Nellore with grief and heavy hearts but touched by the humanness and kindness of the Sisters of JMJ.
The sisters whole heartedly thanked Fr. Joseph Xavier SJ and the Jesuit fathers at ISI for this unique opportunity to be of help to the needy migrants through their effective networking. The sisters continue to keep praying for the migrants.
May God of protection and consolation be always with the migrants.
Sr. Lilly JMJ
Social inclusion & democracy Unit
Facilitator of Kerala Unit