BENGALURU, March 1: Naveen SG was on a video call for half an hour with his father and was excited to share the good news “I am returning home”, those last words will continue to ring in the head, heart and ears of Shekhargoudar as he now awaits the mortal remains of his son to reach Karnataka from war ravaged Ukraine.
Everything was happy in the morning, but around 1 pm on Tuesday, bad news struck and Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar’s family was shattered.
Naveen was killed in Russian shelling of Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkhiv on Tuesday.
“Naveen had made a video call at 10.30 am and spoke to his father for half an hour. He said that all arrangements have been made and he was reaching the railway station. “After some time, he came out of the railway station along with two of his friends to buy snacks when an explosion took his life,” Shivannagoudar, a relative of Naveen, said.
The 21-year-old from Haveri, was a final year student at the Kharkhiv National Medical University. Luckily, one of his friends survived and another injured in the shelling, Shivannagoudar said.
They were about to travel 1000 km from Kharkhiv to the western part of Ukraine, where evacuation exercise by Indian authorities were afoot under Operation Ganga.
On Monday, a batch of students was transported via train to western Ukraine to cross over to a bordering nation to board a flight arranged by the Indian Government. “Today was Naveen’s turn and he and his batch-mates were to take the train when this incident happened,” he said.
Since the Russian tanks entered Ukraine from the eastern part, the Indian Embassy has been advising Indian students to remain in the bunkers for their safety, but they were facing food and water shortage.
“Naveen, along with, Indian students were also taking shelter in the bunkers. And were facing food and water shortage as they could not venture out due to shellings,” he said.
Naveen was not only a resplendent student, but was very ambitious. He was a brilliant student and a gold medalist and wanted to be a very good doctor. “Right now his brother, who is an MSc gold medalist and studying in Bengaluru, has returned to the village and consoling his father,” he said. Naveen was studying in Kharkiv for the last four years. Only six months were left for him to complete the course, Shivannagoudar said.
As soon as the news broke, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that he spoke to the grieving Shekhargoudar, Naveen’s father, and consoled him. Bommai said all efforts were being made to bring Naveen’s mortal remains to India and Karnataka officials were in touch with the External Affairs Ministry in this regard. The EAM has requested Russia and Ukraine to take immediate steps to ensure safe passage for Indian students who are trapped in the country. (UNI)
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