The eerie 5am alarm

KOLKATA: Little Swarnava does not understand what went wrong on Friday that snatched his mother's life. He blames God and at the same time prays to God to "send her back". "Why can't God send mamia (as he called his mother) to me?" is his constant question. And every now and then, he screams: "I will break God's nose and head."
Does seven-year old Swarnava deserve so much of trauma at such an early age, asks his father Sudip Chakraborty, himself in pieces after Parama's death."My son is shattered. I don't know how to manage him. Parama used to take care of everything. Today I went to his school and talked to his teachers to take care of him," he says, through sobs. "Swarnava wad deeply attached to his mother. How do I explain this to him?"
Parama's shradh was performed on Monday. Sudip clenched his jaw while saying, "I do not believe in such rituals. But since my uncle insisted we offered puja at Ram Thakurer Ashram (a temple)."
Thirty-three-year-old Parama was admitted to AMRI, Dhakuria, on Thursday with meningitis. Sudip, whose job with a pharmaceutical firm demands constant travelling, was away that day. "I rushed back on hearing about Parama and went to AMRI around 8pm. But I didn't disturb my wife. She was in the cabin," Sudip said. "I thought I would talk to her on Friday morning but as fate would have it, that morning never came."
Sudip and Parama were married for 11 years.
Sudip fondly remembers that Parama always set the alarm on her mobile for 5am. "She had left the mobile at home. It started buzzing at 5am. And exactly two minutes later, I got a call from our doctor Jayanta Roy that there was a fire at the hospital."
He and Parama's brother reached the hospital at 5.20am and were asked to look for "the body". They were sent to the main building but could not find it. His brother-in-law then took the daring decision to enter the annexe building and discovered Parama's body in a second-floor room. When she was brought out on a stretcher, Sudip didn't want to see her. "That was the moment I could not control myself. I think she was choked to death in sleep. She was given an anesthesia on Thursday."
He blamed the hospital management for the disaster. "It should be ensured that these people don't get bail. Otherwise they will again start such ventures. We lodged an FIR with Lake police station that very day."