Bhanudas Gawde cannot bring himself to leave the iron cot in the verandah of his house. This was where his daughter Shruti used to study. “She was good in academics and well behaved. She readily helped in household chores. Maybe that’s why God called her to him,” he says, trying to hold back tears.

Shruti succumbed to swine flu on Tuesday morning. She is the second school student after Reeda Shaikh to have died of the virus in Pune

Monitor of Class VIII Ganga Division in Ahilyadevi School, the 13-year-old was calm, quiet and level-headed. Neighbours say that this year, during the Ganesh festival near Mati Ganapati, she would be missed. She used to participate in the festivities every year.

Bhanudas, who sells vegetables near Mati Ganapati in Narayan Peth, said Shruti was doing fine until Saturday evening, when the family spoke to her last. Raksha Bandhan was the last festival the family celebrated together.

After Shruti was admitted to Sassoon, a relative had taken her younger brother, a student of Ramanbag School, to the family’s village, Lavale. The whole family too is planning to go to Lavale and spend 8-10 days there.

Amongst the flow of visitors to the Gawde household was Nanda Dangle, the maushi who used to bathe Shruti as a baby. She said, “I had taken care of her for about eight to nine months as a newborn. I can’t believe she is no more,” she said.

Shruti loved puranpoli and gulabjamun. “She had come to my place several times for lunch,” said neighbour Shobha Ghare. “Shruti used to sit at her father’s vegetable shop in the morning before attending school. She has sold vegetable to me,” she added.

... contd.