Unable to bear the absence of his late wife at his housewarming ceremony on Saturday, 8 August, a 57-year-old businessman from Karnataka’s Koppal, Srinivas Murthy, installed a silicone statue of his wife at the newly-constructed home, which he built in her memory.
The visitors at the ceremony were intrigued by the view of the statute dressed in a pink and gold saree resembling Murthy’s wife indistinguishably.
In Memoriam
“I wanted to do something special in memory of my wife. She died three years ago in a car accident,” Srinivas Murthy told The News Minute.
Murthy’s wife MVK Madhavi, along with her two daughters, was travelling to Tirupati when they met with an accident.
The car had allegedly crashed into a truck in the Kolar highway. The back of the truck rammed into the passenger side of the car, and Madhavi died immediately due to impact. His daughters, however, sustained the minor injuries and recovered physically.
Srinivas Murthy said two years ago he decided to construct a house as his wife had a dream to own a bungalow. He had approached over 25 architects, but none of their ideas of creating something special for his wife resonated with him.
He travelled to Gadag on hair exporting business a year ago where he heard about architect Mahesh Rangannadavaru from one of his vendors. Mahesh suggested that a life-size statue of Madhavi be installed in the foyer adjacent to the living room of the new bungalow.
“Mahesh told me that Gombe Mane had also done some work for Tontadarya Mutt in Gadag. I don’t regret it at all. This is the kind of gesture I was looking for. I placed the order about a year ago. I gave them several pictures of my wife. She looks so real,” Srinivas said.
(This story has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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