Hyderabad, May 09: A student from Hyderabad pursuing her MS in electrical engineering at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, died in a road accident in the US yesterday. Five other students from the city escaped with minor injuries in the accident.
Praneetha Devi Kasani (22) was returning from New York to Ohio along with five of her friends when the mishap took place in West Virginia. According to reports reaching the family, the car in which the six were travelling hit a car in front of it and veered off to left and ran into another car onrushing from the opposite direction.
Praneetha, sitting in the rear seat without a seat belt was thrown out by the impact of the collision.
The other occupants escaped with minor injuries. According to reports, Puneeth Reddy Amarella, also a Hyderabadi, was driving the car. The students were returning from New York after attending a university-sponsored programme there. The five injured students, all hailing from AP, are being treated and are likely to be discharged in the next couple of days.
Praneetha’s father, K Rama Rao, an inspector in the Falaknuma traffic police station, received the news around 10.30 p.m yesterday.
Praneetha’s mother, Kaleshwari, is a housewife and her younger sister, Mounica, is pursuing her engineering from Scient College of Engineering in the city. The family live in Karmanghat.
Praneetha called home at 9 p.m last night, and spoke to my wife. She said she and her five friends were driving back from New York and would be reaching Dayton in half-an-hour. She sounded happy and confident as ever. The study programme in New York had gone off well and she had justified the faith her university had in her.
Then, just an hour-and-a-half later, I received a telephone call that no father would want to receive. The voice on the other side sounded hesitant and apologetic. My daughter had met with an accident on the highway and died instantaneously.
I was frozen in my panic. I just couldn’t believe it. It took me a while to break the news to my wife and my younger daughter.
They were shattered, particularly my wife who kept saying she had spoken with Praneetha just an hour earlier. It couldn’t be true.
She was a bright kid, always earnest, always diligent. She spoke little but was fiercely target- oriented. The only thing she wanted to become was a scientist.
She was invited by five universities in the US, but she wanted to specialise in chip design, and chose Wright State University with that in mind.
We wanted her married, but Praneetha just wouldn’t listen.
She wanted to do well in her MS, and only then would she think of marriage. Praneetha didn’t like to ask for help if she could do the task herself. She did all the preparatory work for going to the US all by herself, the visa processing work, everything. I was too busy with my work for the traffic police. Praneetha was such a self-starter, she never needed a helping hand.
We celebrated her birthday only a few days back, April 28. She turned 22. Every family members including her uncles called to greet her. It was her first birthday away from home. I just cannot come to terms with the fact that it was her last.
She was just 22. She was a kind child. She wanted to quickly graduate so that she can take up a job and take Mounica (younger sister) to the US. She had big dreams and thought far.
It’s hard to say what treasure most about Praneetha. Maybe it’s her voice. She sang at home, crooning to herself as she went about her chores. It was a reassuring voice. I can’t believe that we won’t hear it again.
–Agencies