“[𝑀𝑦] 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒. 𝑁𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛. 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟.” – M. Suria, 26, eldest son of G. Vijaya Lakshmi
THE night before (the tragic incident) at 1.30am on Aug 23, Madam Vijaya Lakshmi’s eldest son, M. Suria, 26, called his mother and told her that he had tattooed her name on his left hand.
She was thrilled. He could literally hear the joy in her voice.
He was in Thailand then. Little did he know that for the next 10 harrowing days, he and members of his family – including his father and aunts – would stand vigil over a crater in Kuala Lumpur as the search and rescue of their beloved mother, wife and sister took place before their eyes.
Their hearts were one – praying for her safe return. But it was not to be.
Vijaya Lakshmi Gali, 48, was walking along Jalan Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 23 when the pavement beneath her suddenly collapsed. She plunged into the eight-metre-deep (26-foot-deep) pit and disappeared.
A tourist from Andhra Pradesh’s Animiganipalle village in Kuppam of Chittoor district in India, Madam Vijaya Lakshmi was reportedly heading towards a nearby temple with her family when the tragedy unfolded.
She was in Malaysia on a two-month family holiday. They were scheduled to depart a day later on Aug 24.
On Sunday (Sept 1), the search and rescue efforts were called off; the operation switched to efforts to recover the body of Madam Vijaya Lakshmi.
Her body – probably in a state of decomposition – is believed to be lying in the abyss, deep within the city’s drainage and sewerage network.
Given the immense difficulties to locate and retrieve her body, the labyrinth under downtown Kuala Lumpur is likely the catacomb where she will rest.
In fact, her family was hoping to bury her in their home village in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh.
The family of Madam Vijaya Lakshmi gasped for every elusive ray of hope that slipped through their fingers with every passing moment.
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Today, there is resignation of her fate and grief over her loss.
Before their return to India on Sunday (Sept 1), they were on site to implore their mother, wife and sister to follow them home. To be home safely as one family.
The family lit oil lamps and rang bells. The Hindu rituals performed on-site were nothing but scant consolation.
In the widely circulating CCTV footage showing the moment the ground beneath Vijaya Lakshmi caved in, it appeared that she was walking behind some of her family members.
She had no chance to call for help, to reach for a hand that would stop her fall into the abyss. Tragically, there are also no last good-byes. There is nobody to whom they can bid farewell to.
Between the last glance and the next, there was only a dark abyssal hole. Hope was drained from them.
As the ground rumbled and gave way on the hapless Madam Vijaya Lakshmi, a family caved in from within; only grief surfaced.
An inconsolable family departs Malaysia – eight days behind schedule – with only a pair of slippers.
And a handful of soil, placed in a plastic bag. This was the closest M. Suria is to his mother. – Sept 4, 2024
Republished from a Facebook post entitled “𝐆. 𝐕𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐢, 𝟒𝟖” by Death Kopitiam Singapore 死亡咖啡店.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
