Mother’s Day | Pahalgam victim Shubham Dwivedi’s mum Seema: Ab har waqt yahi lagta hai bas kahin se woh wapis aa jaye

Seema Dwivedi’s son, Shubham, remains in her mind as the prince, the handsome groom he was on February 12, the evening of his wedding. She continues to hope for his return days after he was killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22: “Jab woh hua tha, uske nana ne uska naam Prince rakha tha, ki humara rajkumar hua hai. Ab har waqt yahi lagta hai ki bas kahin se woh wapis aa jaye.”

Thirty-year-old Shubham Dwivedi was on a holiday in Kashmir with 11 his wife Ashanya, parents, in-laws, sister and sister’s family. 

‘I will stay with mom’

His mother describes Shubham as a loving, caring son. “He really cared for me, loved me a lot,” Seema says, adding, “When I gave birth to my daughter (Aarti, Shubham’s younger sister), he had to stay away from me for a few days, at my brother’s place. When I returned (from the hospital), he stuck to me and behaved as if he hadn’t seen me for years. Kisi ke pass nahi gaya. Do din tak bas mere hi saath raha.”

Shubham was that way till he passed. “Whenever I felt even slightly unwell, he would immediately say, ‘Aap baith jao, main sab kuch kar doonga.’ I fall sick often. He was always the one looking after me. Itna care karta tha. When we went to Kashmir, he held my hand all through the trek in fear that I would fall.”

‘Loved Rabri, Rajma-Chawal’

Seema says Shubham was very fond of playing cricket, and would often play with friends and cousins. He loved to travel, and was really fond of eating rabri and dudh bariya as a child: “Mere haath ke rajma-chawal bohot pasand karta tha. Aur bahar jab jaata tha toh chole bhature zaroor khata tha.” 

She adds that her son always wanted to join the family business. “Bachpan se hi kehta tha papa ke saath ki kaam karunga. Chote se hi humari shop mein baithta tha (in Kanpur). Uska ek hi sapna tha ki woh bohot tarakki kare, jeevan aur kaam dono mein.”

The final conversation

On the fateful afternoon of April 22, the family was trekking. Seema says, “Hum log jab upar Pahalgam jaa rahe the, toh hum beech raste se hi neeche aa gaye. Maine usse poocha, ‘Shubham, neeche chaloge beta?’ Toh usne ghode wale se poocha, ‘Bhaiya, upar network aata hai?’ Toh usne jawab diya ki aata hai. Then Shubham decided to further up. Agar ghode wale ne kaha hota ki network nahi aata hai, toh mera beta bhi mere saath neeche aa jaata,” she says.

Seema adds that Shubham made his wedding dreams come true with a destination wedding and a grand party: “Usne shaadi ke time par apne shauk poore kiye. Destination wedding ki. Achchi tarah sabko party di. Sab bohot khush the. Apne armaan poore karke, apne aap ko shaheed naam deke, desh ke liye chala gaya.”