by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore
Bangalore, Jul 15 - The scene at the Sion Hospital, following the multiple bomb blasts by criminals on local trains of Mumbai on July 11 causing the death of more than 200 commuters and injury to hundreds of them, was heart-rending, what with the weeping and grieving relatives frantically searching for bodies of their kin killed in the blast and also the injured, anxiety writ large on their faces. Their wailing was most pitiful, melting the hearts of even the most hard-hearted.
It truly replicated the scene associated with battle fields after a bloody war. Arriving on the scene like a virtual angel for the occasion was a Kannadiga, hailing from Dakshina Kannada District, who did a humane act amidst the confusion and misery. He is Satish Shetty who owns Lakshmi Catering at Sion Hospital.
Public of Mumbai
The public of Mumbai had arrived on the spot much ahead of Police and got busy in rescue operations after the bomb blasts on the evening of Tuesday to give succour to the injured and retrieve the bodies from the mangled remains of the rail coaches.
They continued their kind act on the following day too. There was a considerable presence of Kannadigas among them, with Satish Shetty standing out.
The good samaritan hails from Gurupur, near Mangalore and moved to Mumbai in the year 1985. He got the identity of a Mumbai Kannadiga over years.
On observing personally the devastation caused by anti-social characters whose dastardly act of planting explosives on trains, Satish Shetty resolved to do a kind act to help the sufferers. He considered it his duty to go to their help.
Food packets
In a swift move, Satish Shetty, who got a telephone call from one local Congressman Venkatesh, with the suggestion for preparing and supplying the morning breakfast, prepared Uppittu and tea sufficient for 500 victims. 'I delivered the packets of food personally to the Sion Hospital. The volunteers there took over the responsibility of distributing the packets to the injured. Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna also visited the hospital and enquired about the welfare of the victims of the blasts,' Satish Shetty said.
"I also had the desire to supply lunch in the afternoon. But, the number of persons rushing food to the needy at the hospital was quite large," Shetty added.
Giving the gruesome details of what he observed at the hospital, Shetty said that the sadness at the hospital and the eerie atmos-phere there were beyond human tolerance. Many bodies were beyond identification, he added. The destruction took a heavy toll as it happened at a time when the working population of Mumbai was returning home, he said.
Satish Shetty emerged as a role model to all in the matter of rendering selfless service at a time of national crisis and no extent of complimenting him would be adequate. His mobile number: 09821184002. He told Star of Mysore over telephone that he received innumerable telephone calls from appreciating readers of many newspapers that had reported about his timely service to the needy.