For Shrutika Baranwal, a 25-year-old from Bokaro in Jharkhand, the world was waiting.
A post-graduate from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in , she had already landed a job in the city through campus placement. The Master’s degree in Water Policy and Governance was to be conferred later at a convocation.
Hired by the Rubber, Chemical & Polymer Skill Development Council, Shrutika travelled to to complete induction formalities and be back in Mumbai to start her career.
But that was not to be. She was one of that engulfed a – she was one of the few who had checked in on a work-related visit, unlike the majority who were staying there for treatment in nearby hospitals or had accompanied patients.
Shrutika was on the phone with her friend and batchmate Aman Singh when the fire broke out. “I cannot forget those screams. I lost contact with her. When I was unable to reconnect the call, I spoke to a friend who knew where she stayed in Delhi and we contacted the police. Within a few minutes, they called and informed us about the fire,” he said.
Aman and Shrutika’s friends informed her family and her cousins in Delhi.
From a middle-class family in Bokaro, Shrutika, her friends recalled, joined TISS in the hope of securing a good placement. She was very excited when she landed a job.
Ritika Agrawal (25), who shared a room with her for a year in college, remembers her as someone full of life. “Even if she would go wrong, she would take it sportingly. She was a safe space and a great listener… She was visiting Delhi for office work,” she said.
Pranjal Deekshit, chairperson of the TISS Centre for Water Policy and Governance, said, “Shrutika was a very sincere student who would proactively take part in various initiatives. She had secured a placement at the Rubber, Chemical & Polymer Skill Development Council and was excited. She was doing great work in the area of groundwater preservation. Her Master’s dissertation on shallow aquifer management in Dhanbad was well-appreciated by faculty as well as those working in the field.”
Eklavya Prasad, managing trustee of the Megh Pyne Abhiyan, an organisation actively working in this sector in Dhanbad, had guided Shrutika for the dissertation. “Her work and involvement in the field work were really commendable. She was not working to tick boxes, but with complete interest and purpose, wanting to bring about a change, and with a spark we require in the social sector,” Prasad said.
