It is not a particularly affluent family. Yet, whatever joy they had surrounding the Durga Puja festivities was extinguished in a minute, at the home of Haradan Debnath in Ashram Para of Nandai, Kalna. Compelled by circumstances, he had chosen the life of a migrant worker and gone to Gujarat for employment four months ago.
Late Friday night, news reached the household in Ashram Para that 54-year-old Haradan had lost his life in an accident while returning from his workplace to his lodgings that very night. On the eve of the Puja, this incident has left not only the family but the entire area in a state of shock. Family sources have informed that his body will arrive home on Monday, the Saptami day of Durga Puja.
Haradan's family consists of his wife, a son, a daughter, and his parents. At one time, he owned about eight looms in his house. Everyone in the area knew him as a busy weaver. Due to the crisis in the hand-loom market, all the looms were shut down one by one. Subsequently, to support his family, he went to work in Gujarat four months ago. Sharing this information, his son Amit said on Saturday, “After closing down all the looms, father worked on pipeline projects in Kolkata for some time to run the household. For the past four months, he had been working for a company in Bhuj, Gujarat.”
Regarding the accident, he said, “From what I've learned, the accident occurred around 8 PM on Friday. My father and a few others were returning home, hanging onto the back of a goods vehicle from the company. For some reason, when that vehicle braked hard, my father and two others were thrown onto the road. My father was severely injured by the impact of another vehicle. He was taken to a local hospital, but by then, my father was no longer alive”.
His wife Ratna said, “My husband had gone to work in another state just to support our family. Now, I find myself in deep waters with my son, daughter, father-in-law, and mother-in-law”.
