Souraneel Sarkar, who died in a road accident on Friday morning, was headed to school to take a test on a subject that includes traffic awareness.
Souraneel was a student of Class II at Barisha Uchcha Balika Vidyamandir, a government-aided school at Behala Chowrasta.
“The exams are going on. Class II students were supposed to take a test on Ability in Mental Health and Physical Coordination on Friday,” said a teacher at the school.
Besides civic sense, hygiene and several other issues, the subject includes traffic awareness, he said. “The meaning of green light and red light and the importance of the zebra crossing are taught as part of the subject. The aim is to test their ability to correlate the learning,” said the teacher.
All exams in the school scheduled for Friday were cancelled after the accident, which killed the eight-year-old and left his father critically injured.
When The Telegraph visited the school an hour after the accident, a teacher was busy drafting a message — to be circulated in the WhatsApp group of parents — announcing the postponement of the exams. Souraneel would usually come to school with father Saroj Kumar Sarkar, said teachers and guardians of other students.
The family lives in Thakurpukur’s Nabapally area, around 3km from the school.
“Sarkar would often ride a cycle on James Long Sarani — a road running parallel to Diamond Harbour Road from Joka to Taratala — to drop his son. But occasionally, they would take an auto or a bus. Today, they came by auto,” said the mother of a Class II student.
Sarkar owns a small grocery store in Nabapally. Wife Dipika is a homemaker.
“Souraneel’s parents are of modest means. They put a lot of emphasis on the boy’s education,” said Arjun Roy, headmaster of the school.
A relative of the Sarkars said Souraneel would have turned nine on August 25. “She is crying non-stop, clinging to her son’s school bag,” the relative said of his mother.
The headmaster said one of the teachers at the school was the first to inform Souraneel’s mother about the tragedy. “On getting the call, she first thought Souraneel had forgotten to take something to school,” Roy said.