When AI 171 crash made me feel the pain
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Last evening, when I heard the news of the Air India crash, my mind travelled 40 years back to another heartbreaking June. Around four decades ago, on a late evening in June, devastating news arrived – Aircraft Kanishka of Air India AI 182 had exploded somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. The announcement shattered us. My aunt Anna and her family were returning from Canada when the tragedy struck. Overnight, we lost four beloved members of our extended family. The impact was seismic. My grandmother, eagerly awaiting her daughter's and grandchildren’s arrival, slipped into deep shock. Meanwhile, my father and uncle, prepared to greet their sister joyfully, were thrust into managing unimaginable grief and formalities.
As children, my cousins and I tiptoed through a home draped in sorrow, unable to understand the full severity of what had happened. Though we didn't grasp it fully, we felt the absence and the sudden silence in place of laughter and conversation. That evening marked a turning point. Our family, once whole and hopeful, was forever changed.
In the context of the AI 171 crash, I feel the pain of those who lost their loved ones, and my heart goes out to them. The crash brought down the hopes and aspirations of many families. Each passenger had a future, a story they were building. The pilot's desperate ‘Mayday’ call shattered all dreams. In a few fleeting moments, the whole world turned upside down for the passengers and their loved ones, who now have to move forward with just memories. Memories that do not go away with the passage of time. Like the one I have of my aunt, who used to spoil us kids with KitKat from Canada. To this day, every time I unwrap one, that warmth returns.
Forty years ago, I was looking for an answer to a question that remains unanswered. The pain is still there. The pain, though dulled by time, resurfaced with the shocking news. I see thousands of posts, messages, and pings - each echoing sorrow and despair. Along with the nation and the world, I mourn for the lives lost, for no fault of theirs. Let us rally around those cries and light a candle in our hearts for those who lost their lives. In the midst of life’s unpredictability, let this tragedy be a reminder to cherish each moment, and to hold our loved ones close, because none of us knows what the next second brings.
(The writer works with Publilink Advertising and often contributes to Gulf Madhyamam)
