Guwahati: The floodwaters that tore through Assam’s Sivasagar district washed away homes, fields and livelihoods. But for one family in Bamun Pukhuri village under Nazira, they took away something that can never be rebuilt — their only son.
When Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the Panika family on Wednesday, there were no words that could soften the grief of parents who had lost 13-year-old Hridip Panika, a Class 8 student who died while trying to save his pet puppy from the raging floodwaters.
Inside the modest home, Hridip’s mother, Parbati Panika, broke down as the Chief Minister embraced her.
Beside her stood Hridip’s father, Deepak Panika, struggling to hold back tears as he recalled the final moments of his son’s life.
“He was our only son,” Deepak Panika said, his voice trembling.
The Chief Minister listened quietly before assuring the family that the state government would stand by them.
“I will help you in every possible way. I will build your house and do everything I can, but I cannot bring your son back,” Chief Minister Sarma told the grieving parents.
The words reflected a painful reality as material losses can be compensated but the loss of a child cannot.
As floodwaters engulfed Bamun Pukhuri village, Hridip noticed his three-month-old puppy, Borun, being swept away by the strong current.
The puppy had not been just another pet.
According to his father, the boy had brought Borun home when it was barely one-and-a-half months old and had cared for him every day since.
“When the dog was very small, he brought him home. He raised him with so much love,” Deepak Panika said.
Without pausing to think about the danger, the teenager jumped into the swirling waters in an attempt to rescue the animal.
Borun survived but Hridip did not.
The powerful current swept the boy away. His body was recovered only after an extensive search, leaving behind devastated parents who had already seen their home and belongings destroyed by the floods.
His mother recalled the desperate struggle as floodwaters rose rapidly around their house.
“My brother came to rescue us, but the water had already reached here. We could not save our child,” she said through tears.
Hridip, a student of the local Model School, was the only child of Deepak and Parbati Panika.
Neighbours remembered him as a cheerful boy with a deep affection for animals, a quality that ultimately cost him his life.
The Panika family’s story has emerged as one of the most heartbreaking tragedies of this year’s floods in Assam, which have claimed lives, displaced thousands and left widespread devastation across several districts.
For the Panikas, however, the disaster is no longer measured in damaged houses or submerged farmland. It is measured in an empty room, an unfinished school life and a silence that now fills the place where their son once lived.
Even as the state government has assured the family of all possible assistance, no promise of relief can erase the void left behind by a boy whose final act was one of instinctive compassion.
In a season marked by destruction and loss, Hridip’s sacrifice has become a poignant reminder that behind every flood statistic lies a family whose world has changed forever.
