The Ravana who played Rama

Deepkamal Kaur

This Dasehra was special for Dalbir Singh (32). After seven years of playing Parshuram in Ram Lila, he had landed up with a meaty part — that of Ravana. Rest of the year, when he wasn’t prepping for a mythological role, he ran a kite-making workshop with his brother from his house in Krishna Nagar.

On Friday evening, after enjoying the applause for his performance, he changed his costume to be with the crowd. He looked forward to the burning of Ravana’s effigy. At the Joda railway crossing, he saw the speeding train approaching the crowds. “Some from that crowd itself owe their life to him. Dalbir pushed at least eight persons away from the tracks. However, he himself was pushed towards the train as it approached,” says Balbir Singh, Dalbir’s grief-stricken brother. He, too, had gone to the venue, but was not accompanying his brother. “Dalbir, along with two co-actors, who were playing Rama and Lakshmana had gone to meet the dignitaries on stage. I did not see him after that.”

Dalbir’s wife Navpreet Kaur can’t hold back her tears. With her eight-month-old daughter Pari in her hands, she keeps talking about their love marriage and that this December they would have completed two years together.” The photograph in their room bears testimony to their relationship. “Since, he was playing Ravana, he knew he won’t be able to accompany us to the celebrations. He asked me to stay at home  with our daughter. We never thought he would be gone forever”.

His mother Swaran Kaur is not in a condition to talk. She wails, sitting in one corner of the house, and whatever little can be made out from her sobbing is, “I do not know how I will cope up. When we were all gearing up for celebrations, this jolt has hit us so hard.” 

Timeline of accident 

• 05:00 PM Celebrations for Dasehra began with cultural programmes. 
• 06:30 PM Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu arrived at the venue. 
• 06:54 PM Howrah Mail from Amritsar to Howrah (Kolkata) crossed from the accident site.
• 06:55 PM (74643) Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) from Jalandhar to Amritsar mowed down people.

— Deepkamal Kaur