Thiruvananthapuram: "I will definitely come and step onto the stage. This is the last thing I can offer my father..." Though the pain in his heart and the embers of his father’s funeral pyre were still smouldering, Harihar Das stood firm in his decision.

Just hours after lighting the funeral pyre of his father, singer Ayyappadas, who had lost his life in a road accident the other day, Harihar Das made his way to Thiruvananthapuram for the Kerala School Kalolsavam. The grief was raw, his tears not yet dry, but the young musician took to the stage for the instrumental music competition. With his flute in hand, he poured his pain into the music, earning an A grade alongside his friends. In those moments, the sorrow flowing through his flute transformed into hauntingly beautiful music.

Ayyappadas, 45, a singer with the Kottayam Star Voice music troupe, had died in a motorcycle accident on the Kottayam-Ernakulam road near Kanakkari junction on Saturday night. He was returning home after a stage performance when the crash occurred.

For Harihar Das, a Plus One student of Lakkattoor MGM NSS Higher Secondary School, the news struck like a thunderbolt as he was finalising his preparations for the festival. His friends, determined to honour his commitment, decided to proceed with the performance as a six-member group.

But Harihar Das couldn’t stay away. After completing the last rites for his father, he spent a sleepless night and left home the next day, arriving at the festival venue by 10 pm on Sunday to join his friends. With unyielding determination, he stepped onto the stage, played his heart out, and then quietly departed, saying, "my mother and siblings are alone at home.”