Dolly leaves behind dolls, sweet memories!

VIJAY DEO JHA

RANCHI

Their darling daughter has left her dolls and toys behind. Archita (5) loved to play with her pet doll Mickey Mouse. The only child of Annu Thakur and Ajay Thakur was doomed to death, virtually charred, on Tuesday midnight when the Doon Express; she was travelling along with her mother, leaped in inferno. That day too, she had not forgotten to keep her Barbi doll beside her before catching train at Asansol station for Dehradoon. Dolls and toys were her favourite companions from bedroom to the playground and wherever she went.

Thakur’s family album is stuffed with some of her colourful Kodak moments with toys and dolls—Barbi, Bratz, Japanese, Russian and many more—all turned sepia, gray, black and bleak all of a sudden. “Her room and toy-case was a telling story of fairy tales with around 350 toys and dolls. She herself having fairy and angelic appearance and act was the princes of that wonderland,” said one of her relatives. She had given each doll and toy a name and “would have told you as to when she got these,” he said.

When her body was brought to Ranchi for last rites, on Wednesday, Annu was left with Archita’s Mickey Mouse to hug and sob. Her eyes have swollen with tears welling constantly. Mickey is animated with life otherwise it blue button eyes too would have wept for missing Archita.

She has not spoken a word. She even did not cry. She just kept gazing the toy. And the toy brought more tears.  “Archita wanted more toys and dolls to play. Very seldom her father refused to get her anymore that time she had a trick to force him. Papa you don’t love me probably,” said her relative. Archita has left her dolls and toys and tears in the eyes of her parents. Pictures do not lie.