It was May 22nd, a Saturday and I had big plans for the day- a day out in Khalidya Mall with my girl friends. I had set the alarm for 9 in the morning. But sadly, it was not the alarm that woke me up.
I woke up hearing the noise from the TV. The news channel was on and the most devastating news was shown. An Air India Express flight from Dubai-Mangalore had crashed near the Mangalorean Airport. The crash killed 158 people leaving 6 survivors. There were 4 infants and a dozen or so kids on board. The news was so shocking that I called my friends to know if anyone they knew were on board. I was invited into a sad reality that my friend Soujanya’s aunt and uncle were on board. Thought they were not sure whether they were alive or not at that time, now they know. MY father’s colleague, Mr. Noushad and his family were on board too. Through TV, we came to know that they had passed away too. Burnt in the fire, the news reporter said. There was one more man from my dad’s office that died in that flight crash, a young man of about 28 who was going to India to get married. His bride was waiting for him there. For the rest of the day and the next, all the TV channels reported news about the crash. It was the most devastating crash in a decade in India. Many whys and whose and wheres and whats remained in everyone’s mind as they painfully watched the news. I don’t want to go into any details about the crash as the point of this blog is not that.
That night I went to bed thinking, how many dreams had died down in that small moment of disaster. There might be a girl in the plane who just finished her 10th and is eagerly waiting to go to a new school in India. There might be a wife waiting to see her husband or vise versa. A child, waiting to see her dad. An infant with a hope of seeing her grandparents for the first time. A man, waiting to be with his bride. And air hostess, waiting to get back home from the long journeys.
Saying that I barely slept would be an understatement. It was horrible. How many dreams, hopes and aspirations. Didn’t god just take them all back in a minute.
That night, I prayed to god. Sincerely prayed. Thanked him for the roof above my head, for the family I have, for the food I eat, for the friends I have, for the love I share, for the love I get and most of all, for the protection I get from harm.
That night I slowly closed my eyes and drifted into an unconscious state. I slept…knowing that some day, I would have to say good bye to this life too.
A SIGHT THAT HAUNTS ME...A COP CARRYING THE DEAD BODY OF A SMALL CHILD FROM THE PLANE CRASH.
AFTER THE PLANE CRASH....DEVASTATED...
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