With such frequent travelling, and with Devika yet to recover fully, he has found no time to look for a place to rent, Rotawan says.

He denies he hasn’t tried hard enough, or that he has just grabbed what amounts to free government accommodation.

“I have enough money for our daily expenses. Several traders who owed me money have repaid the loans,” he says defensively. “Also, Devika has got two cheques totalling Rs 95,000 from the Collector and the Central Railway, but I have not touched them. I have put them in an account in her name in a bank in Rajasthan.”

He misses his dead wife, Rotawan says. “There was no one to take care of Devika. I could not focus on my business, and I could not leave them alone to go house-hunting. They haven’t gone to school for two years since their mother died, and my business began facing problems.”

He says he can’t leave the children with relatives. “They would expect money in return. All my relatives know that Devika’s compensation money has reached us, and have begun to ask us for loans. I did check out a couple of small rooms but the safety aspect was always so pitiable that I couldn’t imagine ever leaving my children alone in those houses.”

But he’s now had enough of this life, Rotawan says. He has made up his mind to move into a home after the family returns from their final trip to Rajasthan, due later this month.

... contd.