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Madhav and his friends

Kozhikode: “I didn’t like Nepal. It was too cold there... ,” said Madhav to his class teacher who unexpectedly turned up at his house. The teacher and others tried hard to contain their tears and keep a straight face.

Everyone at the Sreepadmam house in Mokavoor were crying their hearts out. Madhav had not been told that his parents Ranjith and Indu and younger brother will never wake up from their deep sleep.

He was playing with Kannettan and Achutty since morning. When the house which is under construction and premises, were being cleaned and chairs laid, Madhav had raised question. When many took his pictures he wanted to know why.

Simi S Nair, Madhav’s class teacher at Silver Hills School, principal Father Biju, teacher Anupama Sunil and school counsellor Rahna had come to his house.

“I liked Delhi. But it was cold in Nepal,” said Madhav adding that his parents and brother were sleeping as they inhaled gas.

Slowly, the reality was conveyed to the kid. At first he was shocked and gradually the truth sank in. He was inconsolable.

But soon, his focus shifted to the new cycle bought for him. He started showing it off to everyone.

The bodies of Ranjit, and family reached Delhi and will be airlifted to Kozhikode on Friday morning.

Their six-year-old son Madhav, who was sleeping in another room had a lucky escape, and reached home in Kozhikode on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the mortal remains of five of the eight tourists from Kerala who died of possible asphyxiation in their room at a mountainous resort in Nepal were flown to Thiruvananthapuram late Thursday night.

The bodies of Dubai-based engineer Praveen, his wife Sarnaya and their three children, aged between 4 and 9 years, were first brought to New Delhi from Kathmandu and then airlifted to Thiruvananthapuram.

The bodies were kept at the Thiruvananathapuram Medical College hospital mortuary on Thursday night and were taken to Praveen's home at Chenkottukonam on Friday for the funeral.

Kerala Health Minister K K Shylaja visited the parents of Praveen — Krishnan Nair and Prasannakumari, who were inconsolable.

The students and teachers of the Kochi school where the 3 children — Sree Bhadra (9), Aarcha (7) and Abhinav (4) — were studying, paid floral tributes at the framed photographs of their schoolmates after the assembly on Thursday morning.

The deceased were among a group of 15 tourists from Kerala who had checked into a resort in Daman, a popular tourist spot in Makawanpur district, some 70 km south of Kathmandu.

Praveen and Ranjit, both IT professionals, were engineering college classmates and the tour was arranged after a get-together with old friends in Delhi, a family member said.

(With PTI inputs)