Lucknow: Grief hung heavy in the air as Satish stood frozen, staring at the charred remains of what was once his world—his two little daughters, devoured by the devastating Vikas Nagar blaze.“I wanted to make one a doctor and the other an engineer,” he said, his voice trembling, the weight of shattered dreams evident in every word. His wife Poonam is unable to come to terms with the loss of their daughters—Shruti, two years old and her two-month-old infant sister.Natives of Kashipurwa village in Barabanki, the family had come to Lucknow with the hope of building a better future. “We came from Barabanki for a good life… but everything got burnt,” said Satish, his voice barely audible. Satish and Poonam worked as rag-pickers but were collecting money to educate their daughters.Around them lay the blackened ruins of their home—twisted metal, burnt clothes, and the faint traces of a life they had tried to build brick by brick.For Satish and Poonam, the fire did not just destroy their shelter—it took away their future, leaving behind only silence, grief, and the haunting echoes of dreams that will never be fulfilled.
