Up in smoke: 2 years of toil

His mother and sister are dead, his father is fighting for life and his house has been reduced to ashes — Hridesh Shaw has lost count of his losses.

The 18-year-old survivor of the Shibpur gas-and-grab tragedy — LPG was pumped into the Shaws’ home before it was set ablaze — has only brother Dilesh, 14, to cling to.

To add to his woes, Hridesh’s books were charred with his home, and his ISC exams are round the corner.

“I don’t know how I shall sit the exams for which I have struggled so hard for the last two years,” Hridesh said.

The teenager has decided to approach chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for help to find a place where he can stay with his brother and prepare for the exams, which begin on February 18.

He says the promises that had poured in after the tragedy have proved empty.

“Almost everyone assured me help. But two days later, I am hopping from one friend’s place to another, not sure about the next day. All my books and precious notes are gone and my exams are not even a fortnight away,” Hridesh, who topped his school in the ICSE exam with 97 per cent marks, said.

His friends, though, have been a pillar of support. Hridesh’s classmates in Maria’s Day School have taken turns to give him and his brother shelter.

“We have to ensure Hridesh doesn’t miss out on his exams. But it’s difficult. After all, we share the same books and it’s just a few days before the exams. It pains us to see that he is not in a state to sit down with books,” said Danesh Pervez, a classmate.

Hridesh is also running out of money for his father’s treatment. Doctors at the Howrah State General Hospital today asked him to get two bottles of blood while transferring his father Ram Bahadur from the male surgical ward to the burns ward.

The doctors said Ram Bahadur was “certainly not in a good state”.

“I don’t know how to look after my brother, where to get money for my father’s treatment,” Hridesh said. “I will appeal to the chief minister to do something for us.”