'Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya' says the prominent board outside the VNR Vigyan Jyoti Institute of Engineering and Technology. Nestled amidst tall and shady trees on the Bachupally-Miyapur Road on the outskirts of Hyderabad City, the institute seems to have been immersed in sepulchral silence.
Its imposing red-coloured gates and the huge granite figure of Lord Hanuman at the entrance only add to the mood.
Given the summer vacation, only few students and faculty are to be seen in the campus. But clearly, the drowning of 24 students has benumbed and shaken everyone; refusing to be drawn into an conversation, they stand in groups talking among themselves in hushed tones.
Photos & text by PV Sivakumar