For Bharat and his wife, Sumit Ahire was a child they had waited for five years. He was the answer to their prayers. They had promised themselves that he would have every opportunity life could offer.A black belt in karate, a gym enthusiast and a bright student preparing for the JEE, Sumit had a future his parents had carefully watched him build. He dreamed of good marks, a good college and a life beyond the limits of their expectations.But a trip to Diveagar ended that future in the waters of the sea. Now, inside the Ahire home, the silence is heavier than words. His mother sits grieving, her tears refusing to stop, while his father is left staring at a future that no longer has his son in it.“He went for the trip for the first time. He was so excited, we gave him everything we could. He had dreams, he had a future. Tell me, whom do I ask now? Who will bring my son back?” Bharat said.For the Ahires, there are only questions about whether greater care could have saved a life so deeply cherished.A group of students from Winners’ Academy at Alandi had gone on a picnic to the popular Diveagar beach in Raigad. There were 25 boys and 17 girls who were accompanied by six teachers. By the evening, eight of the students, who had entered the sea, had been swept away and drowned. On Friday, their families cremated the boys on whom post mortem had been conducted during the night.Story continues below this adSatish Wasankar stands on the steps of his house in a wide lane in Alandi. He watches emotionless as families and neighbours stream in to condole the death of his 16-year-old son, Kaivalya Wasankar. “He participated in all kinds of social activities, including Ganeshotsav celebrations in everybody’s house. Even I don’t know so many people, but Kaivalya was far more mature than 50-year-old men like me. He thought big, he was generous and he kept in touch with everybody,” he said. It was Kaivalya who would carry out the responsibility of buying medicine for his grandmother, a Parkinson’s patient, and courier these to her every month.Kaivalya had planned to study in MIT Academy of Engineering in Alandi and, then, get a job in Pune. On Friday, his last rites were performed in Alandi as his village, Amravati, was 550 km away. “This is the first time that I have seen a sister, his cousin, bringing home her brother’s ashes. Kaivalya used to say that our family was complete. Now, it is only my wife and I. Who can avoid destiny?” he says.Soham Bhandwalkar’s memory is now painfully divided between two moments in the mind of his family. One is from a few weeks ago, when they had celebrated Ganeshotsav together. Then, came the night they brought Soham’s body home.Soham, a Class XI student preparing for an engineering career, was known as a kind and helpful boy. He was good at academics, loved chess and readily helped those around him. When he told his parents he wanted to go on a day trip, there seemed little reason for alarm. His father simply arranged for someone to drop him at the meeting point from where the students would leave. They were expected to return the same day.Story continues below this adAround 7 pm on October 1, the family’s lives changed forever. “I received the call about Soham’s condition, and we immediately left for Raigad. I never imagined that I would have to bring that child back like this,” says father Vithal Narayan Shinde, a close friend of Soham’s father.The Banwalkar family is now too shattered to speak. For Shinde, the pain is different but no less crushing. He watched his best friend lose his young son, a boy who had become dear to him too.“Just a few weeks ago, we were celebrating Ganeshotsav together. Today, I had to bring Soham home,” he said. Some losses leave a silence that even the closest of friendships cannot fill.Pranav Bansode’s family had been clear that they did not want him near water because he could not swim. In fact, not one of the deceeased boys could swim. Pranav’s parents say that they had not signed the consent form from the coaching centre, Winners Academy, for the outing. His father had specifically instructed the faculty to keep Pranav away from the water. The family said they were reassured that the students would be kept safe.Story continues below this adPranav’s sister and teachers remember a shy, sincere and well-mannered boy. According to them, the picnic at Raigad was to be a routine outing. At home, there was no electricity, so the family was unaware of what had happened. They learnt through social media that some students had drowned at Diveagar. Soon after, a call from the faculty confirmed the situation, and they immediately left for the spot.His sister struggles to believe that her brother is gone. “We had told them clearly that Pranav could not swim. We trusted them to take care of him. Even now, I keep looking towards the door, thinking he will come home,” she said. For the family, the hardest part is that the waiting has not yet stopped.Tanmay Vahile had never been much of a traveller. A quiet, soft-spoken and studious boy, he rarely went out on trips or picnics. So when he decided to join one, it became a small occasion for the entire family.The day before leaving, Tanmay turned to his mother with an unusual curiosity. “Mummy, have you ever been on a picnic? How is it?” he asked, eager to hear about her experiences. For a family used to seeing him stay close to home, his excitement was infectious.Story continues below this adThe next morning, his father dropped him at the departure point. He called during the trip to ask how Tanmay was doing and was relieved to hear that his son was enjoying himself. It was supposed to be a day filled with new experiences for a boy stepping out on his first picnic.By evening, his mother, who regularly watched the news, switched on the television and saw reports of the Diveagar drowning. The news was followed by the call the family feared.The family alleges that life jackets were not available in sufficient numbers and that there were lapses in supervision. But beyond those questions remains a family mourning a son whose first trip was meant to become a happy memory and instead became their last.