Kamala Mills Fire: Fire victim was confident of bright career

Sarbajit Parida, the only resto-bar staff, who was killed in the mighty fire which broke out at 1Above, one of the most expensive pubs in Kamala Mills compound, on Thursday midnight, had dreams of making it big in Mumbai.

Prakash Nayak, his cousin, recalls how Parida had mentioned that he is doing very well at work and that he was sure of reaching great heights in his profession and that too in a short span of time.

Parida had completed his graduation and later had pursued a hotel management course after which he got a job as a waiter at 1Above. He belonged to a poor family, which earned its living through a small piece of farmland on which they cultivate grains once a year. Sarbajit’s father, Samarendra Parida, is a television mechanic and managed to raise him on the extra income he used to earn by repairing electronic devices.

Nayak, while speaking to this correspondent, said, “Sarbajit was the only child of his parents and they had sent him to Mumbai owing to the trust they had in me as I had already been settled in the city for almost a decade. He would always tell me that he is too good at his work and that he would become a manager in a short span of time.”

When asked what he can recall about the incident, Nayak said, “The moment I came across the news of the fire, I immediately tried to contact him, but as he did not pick up the phone, I was alarmed. I immediately rushed to the spot, but till then Sarbajit was dead. ”