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A pall of gloom descended Kot Mohammed Khan, the native village of the Vice-President Krishan Kant, as news of his death started trickling him.
When a battery of media persons reached the small and remote village in the Tarn Taran district of Amritsar, an unusual calm was witnessed as if it were a personal loss to the 3000 inhabitants of the village.
Not even a single house was said to have lit the hearth.
As the news spread, villagers started assembling for the shok sabha (mourning meeting) where it was decided that a group of elders close to Krishan Kant and his family would participate in his cremation in Delhi on Sunday.
Born in 1927, Kant's father Lala Achint Ram was a renowned freedom fighter and a companion of Lala Lajpat Rai.
Krishan Kant, who took his preliminary education from the village school, frequently visited the village even after becoming the Vice-President.
Girdharilal and Baldev Raj, the childhood companions of the late Vice-President said, "Whenever we were in a deep trouble, we would always go to Krishan Kant and he would solve the problem."
"Krishan Kant was deeply attached to his birthplace and whenever we visited him, he would never forget to inquire about the well being of all in the village," one of his old-time friends said.
Girdharilal and Baldev Raj said that Krishan Kant's mother Satyawati also visited the village every year.
"With the passing away of Kant, the entire village feels orphaned", a village elder said. "Now there would be no one to care for us and listen to our woes."
One villager said, "Earlier our village was facing acute electricity problem. But this man lost no time in arranging the setting up of complete powerhouse to eradicate this problem." Another added, "Besides, banking system and high school education, which was never heard of in the village, is also his contribution."
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