For seven who were away, the home they knew no longer exists | Delhi News
New Delhi: In a close shave that seems both miraculous and cruel, seven members of the Kashyap family who were away on Tuesday night are now returning to a home in Palam village that no longer exists as they knew it — their shop and home scorched and nine of their loved ones gone.For nearly five decades, the family lived together above their garment, jewellery, skincare and cosmetics shop, Pravesh Moderate Fashion —named after one of the sons, Pravesh. This space sustained generations and held together a joint family under one roof, where life moved in shared routines and constant presence.Sunil Kashyap had left for Solan Valley in Himachal Pradesh just a day earlier for work, a routine trip that would become the reason he survived. A senior customer relations assistant at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, he was rushing back to Delhi within hours on learning that he had lost his mother, two brothers, sister, two sisters-in-law and three young nieces in the tragedy.Sunil’s father, 70-year-old Rajender Kashyap, a well-known local figure and two-time president of Sadh Nagar Market Association, also had a narrow escape. He had travelled to Panaji two days earlier for work. Now, he has returned to confront the loss of the home and family he spent a lifetime building.Sunil’s wife Gauri, lovingly called ‘Dolly’ by her family, had also been away at her native place in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, for nearly a week with their sons, five-year-old Harshit and one-year-old Kairav.Kavita, the wife of Pravesh, had gone to Najafgarh with her son, Vyom, for a wedding back home. At Manipal Hospital, she sat surrounded by relatives, too shocked to speak or comprehend anything. “We have not told her how many people have died yet. We are terrified of how she will take it,” said Yash, a cousin of the Kashyaps.What awaits them all is not just the sight of blackened walls, but the collapse of a life built patiently and lovingly over 50 years. The house that was never empty, the shop that carried their name and memories, and the joint family that moved as one now lie in pieces.
