The tears have all dried out. But Kachurwahi mourns its dead in silence.Of the 57 of a marriage party who were killed in Thursday's grisly train-tractor collision near Nagpur, 41 were from Kachurwahi.
Fate turned a celebration into a disaster in one swift, merciless blow for this sleepy little village with a population of around 6,000 in Nagpur district. Every third or fourth home has lost a member in the tragedy.
The initial disbelief at the magnitude of the tragedy turned into shocked acceptance before giving way to a numb silence.
The dead were consigned to flames on Friday, but the bereaved families, indeed, the entire village, went through the motions in a stunned daze.
The tragedy has been the most awful for the Natkars, because the villagers were celebrating a wedding in this family.
Naresh, son of Baliram Natkar, got married to Devyani, alias Shubhangi, daughter of Gangadhar Sarode, a resident of Kanhan, on the fateful day. The marriage party met with the tragedy on its way back from the ceremony.
The Natkar family does not know how to react. True, it is not to be blamed for the error of judgment committed by the driver of the tractor-trolley, but the thought that the victims were travelling at their invitation is tearing at the heart of every member of the family.
The family home had been spruced up for the wedding, but now the fresh coat of paint and the decorations appear grotesque and out of place. The newly weds had a providential escape as they decided to travel separately and not with the marriage party in the tractor-trailer.
The condition of the groom, Naresh, is the worst. The family is taking care not to let him come into media spotlight. Naresh is asked to go inside the house as soon as a media crew is spotted. And even the most hardened of scribes dare not seek permission to have a word with him.
Why did the mishap occur? Nobody really knows. Minister of State for Railways Narenbhai Rathwa asserted during a visit to the spot on Friday that it occurred because the driver of the tractor-trolley, Bharat Kodawate, was drunk.
However, Kodawate denies the charge. When Rathwa met Kodawate at the hospital, he asked the driver if he had been drunk at the time of the tragedy. Kodawate said he was not. He said he did not hear the train coming because the kids on the trolley were 'making a noise'.
In fact, Kodawate had not driven a tractor for several years. He was driving one on Thursday only because of a request from the owner after the regular guy failed to turn up.
The police have registered a case under Section 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (death due to negligence) against Kodawate. He has not been placed under arrest so far.
Whatever the truth, Kachurwahi's wounds will take a long time to heal. Right now, the villagers will have to tackle the worst thing that follows every major tragedy coping with the grief. And each will have to find his or her own way to come to terms with the anguish.
