The couple KK Narayanan and Sushma have two sons, both named Sayanth Krishnan. However, when the name rings through their house in Perladkam in Kerala's Kasaragod district, only one hears the call.
Three years ago, on June 7, 2014, their first son, Sayanth Krishnan was killed in a road accident, not far from their house.
“It was six years ago, my son had gone to a nearby shop with his relative. On their way back, an autorickshaw rammed into Kannan (Sayanth Krishnan's nickname). Though he was taken to Mangalore, we could not save him. Our relative too suffered serious injuries,” Narayanan recounted the day.
As fate would have it, Narayanan was at the same spot where the accident took place when Onmanorama called him.
Exactly three years later, on the third remembrance day of their first son (June 7, 2017), the couple was blessed with another boy.
“It was after much prayers and sacrifice that, three years later, we were blessed with another son. It was my wish to name him Sayanth Krishnan. All the family members were supportive of the idea. It was as if we got back our lost child, yet the pain still lingers,”
The young Sayanth was born at 7:15pm on June 7, 2017, exactly an hour before the death of their first son (8:15pm). He too was nicknamed Kannan.
“He was a bright child destined for a bright future. In Perladkam, where I also run a bakery, he was loved by all. Everyone knew me as Sayanth's father. He had just begun school when the fateful incident happened,” Narayanan, who works in Kolathur Service Co-operative Bank, said.
There was no birthday celebration for young Sayanth on Sunday, the sixth remembrance day of his elder brother. He went to the temple along with his parents to offer prayers.
Sayanth has an elder sister too – Sayana. The four-member family celebrated young Sayanth's birthday on Monday.
Remembrance and birthday ads
It was an advertisement in a newspaper that piqued the interest of Malayala Manorama's Kasaragod reporter Rajeesh Kumar. Both the remembrance ad and the birthday ad had the same details – the name, the address, the names of the relatives.
“I thought the paper had made a mistake,” Kumar told Onmanorama.
“It is unlikely that for something as important and intimate as this, a mistake could be made. I was curious. I wanted to find out what had transpired,” Rajeesh said.
Kumar then met with the family and learned of the incident. What was an ad then became a story that touched the hearts of many.
Even amid the lingering pain of the loss of his child, Narayanan knows that he must be strong, for the others. Now, he is on his way to register young Sayanth to school, where his elder brother had studied for just five days.
