Bengaluru: The group of seven friends who went to Sri Lanka to unwind after a gruelling election campaign met with tragedy soon after their arrival in Colombo. Six of the seven men, all JD(S) party workers, were killed by the blast.
Hanumantharayappa, President of Mathrushree Builderse, one of those killed, was supposed to return on Monday, keen to resume his party work and also was waiting to finish his some business work he had pending. He was also planning to help children from economically weaker sections admissions in schools.
His family and friends were inconsolable, still struggling to come to terms with the devastating news. He last spoke to his family on Sunday, at around 8 am, around the time they checked into the ShangriLa Hotel. After that, he remained untraceable.
It was late afternoon when the family members learned about the blasts, from friends and other relatives. In horror, they tried to contact Hanumantharayappa at once but his phone was switched off. They called his friends as well, but in vain. It was only in the early hours of Monday that they received unconfirmed news of his death. Later in the day, they received the confirmation they had been dreading.
Hanumantharappa is a resident of T Dasarahalli and is a real estate developer as well as a JD (S) party worker. He is survived by his wife, a son, Chetan and two daughters Chaitra and Vimarsha. All the three of them are students.
"Shell-shocked," is how Ramaswamy, a relative of Hanumantharayappa puts it. "We have no other words to describe this grief. He was a sincere party worker, known for his punctuality. More than anything, we have lost a good soul, who gave so much importance to education. Anyone, with a desire to study but who couldn't afford it would approach him and he would get them the admission in any school, at any cost."
"He would always ask the youngsters to study hard and then do what they like. Even till last week, he had agreed to help a few children whose families are struggling financially, to get admissions in a private school. He had never turned away anyone approaching him for educational or medical help," added Mr Ramaswamy.
A close friend of Hanumantharayappa defined him as a soft spoken soul. Somashekar, who has known him for a long time said that he had never seen Hanuman- tharayappa losing his cool on anyone. "I would wonder how he would be able to be a party worker, when he used to never get angry. He was a soft spoken person and had keen interest in wordly affairs. He would follow politics, sports, current affairs, movies and anything he finds interesting and would have information in his finger tips," added Somashekar.
"He was also good at his work and he would always say that he would like to change the perspective of Real Estate and help people think that not all bad people are into Real Estate. Now, we he has gone and I have lost a good friend," cried Somashekar.
