Devan Ramachandran, J.

There is nothing more tormenting and haunting than the sight of a tear in a mother's eye grieving for her child and there is nothing more daunting than being asked to estimate the value of such tear pecuniarily.

2. We are, in these proceedings, however, left with the most unhappy task of having to so estimate the unestimable.

3. Lest it be mistaken, by the prelude above, the mother-Mrs. Mymoona is not the claimant, but her young son, who was a mere six years of age at the time of the accident. However, by the passage of time of nearly 11½ years now, the mother who has been, for all these years, tending to and caring for her child, who is living in a vegetative state, comes through as the real victim of the terrific accident.

4. On the fateful day of 24.10.2006, at about 8 p.m., the world of Mrs.Mymoona, the mother of her then 6 year old son, the claimant herein, turned on its head when her son Master Basid was knocked down by a speeding car, driven and owned by the first respondent, while he was innocently standing on the non-motorable area of the Chavakkad-Puthuponnani Highway.

5. Every major accident inevitably leaves a legacy of grief. But the extent