Chennai: Clad in a stained white shirt and blue lungi, a visibly shattered Narayana Reddy, father of the deceased IIT-M student, resembled a picture of gloom at the Government Royapettah Hospital mortuary. He last spoke to his son over phone on Monday morning and 12 hours later, he was informed that his son is no more.
"I never saw it coming. He did not complain of anything when he spent the weekend at home," said Reddy before receiving the body of his only son. His brother and few other relatives from his village accompanied him. The bicycle and bed used by his son at the hostel was loaded onto the SUV they came.
"On Sunday night, I walked with him to the bus stop. He seemed disturbed. However, when I enquired if something is wrong, he said things were fine," said Narayana Reddy.
An agricultural labourer, Reddy said his family had high hopes on his son and claimed that his son was the only IIT-ian from the whole taluk. "He doesn't have a lot of friends and is usually reserved. The few friends he had at hostel also claimed to be unaware of what drove him to take the extreme step," Siddaramiah, Nagendra Kumar's paternal uncle said.
When asked about the GATE exams, the family members recalled that he was worried about missing to make the cut in his recent attempt by a small margin.
"But, that was in March. He said he missed to make the cut by one mark. We think it's unlikely to be a reason," Siddaramiah said adding that, "He is very studious and used to prepare for 16 hours a day during exams. His M.Tech course is sponsored by his company and was also paid a stipend of Rs 13,000 every month". Nagendra Kumar Reddy did his schooling at his local village and B.Tech at Kurnool.
