Kaushangi Arya, 20, who died in the road accident on the Manali-Chandigarh national highway on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Kaushangi Arya, 20, last spoke to her elder brother Yugank on Thursday night, before she left for her first-ever trip to Kullu-Manali. But it ended up being her last.
Her journey to Manali came to a sombre end after the bus carrying her and 40 others from Delhi University, mostly from Kamala Nehru College (KNC), overturned on the Manali-Chandigarh national highway early on Friday. While the errant bus driver was arrested in Bilaspur, Kaushangi was killed and the others sustained injuries.
A third-year graduate student of psychology at KNC, Kaushangi, a native of Jaipur, excelled academically and dreamt of continuing her studies abroad, her family said.
“Her friends called us around 8.30 a.m. [Friday] and said Kaushangi died on the spot. They also told us the driver drove rashly, even abandoned the vehicle and the girls. We [immediately] left for Bilaspur,” said Yugank, whose father is a businessman and mother is a school teacher.
“My sister was closest to our father. We cremated her on Saturday. They [parents] are inconsolable. She was really excited for this trip,” he lamented.
Sejal Singhal, Kaushangi’s childhood friend, said she was loved by all. “It is painful to think that she is no more.”
‘Traumatic’
For most of Kaushangi’s classmates, including Shivani Rawat, this was their first trip to Kullu-Manali. Calling the incident “traumatic”, Shivani said, “It happened while we were sleeping. We have faint memories of how we got out of our seats. We were pulled out by locals and the trip organisers.”
Another KNC student, who did not wish to be named, said most of them had spent a majority of their college life online due to the pandemic and were looking forward to the trip.
“This felt like a getaway. We wanted to have fun and make a lot of memories. Now, all we have is trauma. But we hope to go back to Kullu-Manali someday, with the same people,” she added.
The student said the authorities were prompt in the rescue operation. “Everybody’s parents were worried, I saw so many girls video-calling their parents to inform them that they are doing fine, it was heart-breaking.”
Rash driving
All the students maintained that the driver was driving rashly. “He took sharp turns and all of us felt strange. The accident took place in a matter of ten seconds. In that time, we begged, prayed, and thought about our parents and friends. We just wanted to come out alive,” Shivani said.
Remembering Kaushanghi, Shivani said her classmate was among the most cheerful persons in their class and department. “It is difficult to imagine what her family is going through.”
Earlier, KNC principal (officiating) Kalpana Bhakuni had told Today News 24 that the college is in touch with all the injured students and their parents.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had on Friday said the Bilaspur district administration has been directed to provide immediate relief to the next of the kin of the deceased and medical treatment to the injured.
