How Gorakhpur children celebrated Independence Day amid deaths
As seven-year-old Chandni sang the national anthem along with her schoolmates, she remembered how she and her siblings would gather for rehearsals at her home in Uttar Pradesh's Baraipar village. That was not so long ago.
On August 15, Chandni not only managed to drag herself to school but also her little brother, Shyam, to participate in the Independence Day celebrations.
Going to school had always been fun, but this was the first time they were coming without their older sister, Vandana.
"My didi loves to come to school, she tells us to study hard. We all sit and study together," says Chandini.
It was Vandana who till a few days ago made sure that her younger brother and sister get ready for school on time, dressed up neat and tidy. Often Shyam would not wake up in time and Vandana would scold him. "Didi tells me that school is a must, she wants me to become a doctor."
Perhaps Vandana wanted her village to get rid of the fear of the perennial malady - Japanese Encephalitis - snuffing out lives across the state every year.
Chandni still talks about Vandana in the present tense, and no one has the courage to tell her that Vandana is now no more.
Vandana was one of the more than 70 victims who died at the BRD Hospital in Gorakhpur - what is now referred to as the Gorakhpur tragedy. On her way to the hospital along with her uncle, she was talking all the while. "Kaka, when we come back I must pick some pakoris for dadi from the market, I have promised her so."
Of course, she couldn't keep her word as she battled for life for hours after the hospital ran out of oxygen supply, and finally succumbed.
Chandini believes that God has called her sister to his house. Three days after Vandana died, Shyam and Chandini were back in school on August 15. Shyam initially thought if he wouldn't get ready on time, his Vandana didi would come back to scold him. But that didn't happen.
Freedom seems far away as villagers continue to struggle amid the outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome - locally called dimagi bukhaar - snuffing out young lives.
The Baraipar primary school principal, Dinesh Kumar, couldn't agree more.
"Vandana was a bright and happy child," he says, adding that it was a terrible loss for the school as well.
"The entire school was in mourning that day. Azaadi is not for everyone to celebrate. It's only meant for the rich and the powerful. Villages like ours are still not free from the shackles of misery," he laments.
So much for 70 years of freedom.