SOON after getting good news about their sick son, a Singapore CEO and two family members met a tragic end in Chennai, India.

Indian national Ravinder Kulkarni, the CEO of Tata Precision Industries Singapore, was in a taxi with his family when it was hit by a car driven by a drunk driver.

Mr Kulkarni, his younger son, Aniket, 17, and the cabby were killed instantly. His wife, Mrs Shailaja Kulkarni, died in hospital.

Their elder son, Ashish, is recovering in a hospital.

The other driver walked away with minor injuries, The Times of India reported he has been charged and is now in police custody, a CNN-IBN report said.

The Kulkarnis had been in Chennai since Sunday for Aniket's regular check-up. He has been receiving treatment for a heart condition in a hospital there since 1993. On Tuesday, the doctors told them Aniket had shown remarkable improvement.

To celebrate, they decided to go to Mahabalipuram, a seaside resort 60km from Chennai.

COLLIDED HEAD-ON
They were just a few kilometres from their destination when the head-on collision happened.

The tragedy stunned Mr Kulkarni's colleagues in Singapore, including Mr Vikram Kuriyan, head of Finance and Business Development at Tata Precision Singapore.

When he returned home after a swim on Tuesday night, his wife told him that he had received several calls on his handphone.

Thinking it was business calls, she did not answer them

Then he was told that Mr Kulkarni had been killed in an accident.

Mr Kuriyan told The New Paper: 'I thought it was something relating to business, because sometimes the staff in India aren't aware of our (21/2hours) time difference and would sometimes call us at late hours.'

He said Mr Kulkarni lived alone here in a rented three-bedroom apartment in Upper Bukit Timah Road.'His wife and children were in India. He wanted to wait until his sons had completed their education before asking them to join him in Singapore.'

Mr Kuriyan remembers visiting him once sometime ago. 'He was a neat man, possibly because he lived alone, but also because he wanted to keep things tidy.

'His office was also neat as he hated too much paperwork. He would always dispose of what he did not need, and had just his laptop on the desk.'

Mr Kulkarni rarely spoke about his family, but it was clear he loved them dearly.

Said Mr Kuriyan: 'Although our office tends to keep work and personal lives separate, just two weeks ago Aniket had topped the Class 12 examinations in (the Indian state of) Madhya Pradesh.

'We went down to Mustafa Centre to get some Indian tidbits, and held a small celebration in the office to congratulate him.'

Mr Kulkarni also missed his wife, who was supervising their sons' education in India.

'He would always talk to her on the phone, and though she hardly came to Singapore, he would go to India once every two or three months on business, and they would spend time together.'

DEVOTED TO WORK
Mr Kuriyan added: 'He was a man devoted to his work. He would come in earlier before office started at 9am but often left late at 7 or even 8pm.'

Besides work, Mr Kulkarni also found time for social work.

Mr Kuriyan said: 'He was a religious man. He used to go to Ramakrishna Mission home to help out once a week.
'And he was very much into yoga. He was used to getting up early and going for a walk, and was trim and fit.'

Mr Kuriyan still cannot believe the fate that has befallen his colleague and friend.

He said: 'It's so sad that something like that could happen to someone who was always smiling, no matter what the situation was or how tough it got.' -TNP