Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 13: Little did Arjun knew that he is going to make the saying true, “even death cannot part us.” He had come to India to fulfil his wife’s last wish but got “reunited in death” never to return to his two daughters.
Arjun Patolia lived in London with his wife Bharati and their two daughters, aged eight and four. People close to the family said Bharati died a few days ago and Arjun flew down to India to fulfil her wish that her ashes be immersed in a pond in her ancestral village of Vadia in Gujarat’s Amreli district.
A memorial service was also organised for Bharati in Vadia earlier this month and Arjun stayed in India for a few days to finish the rituals while their daughters were back in London. Fulfilled her last wish, Arjun on Thursday boarded the Air India flight 171 to London’s Gatwick airport from Ahmedabad and the couple’s two daughters lost their second parent in less than month.
Neighbours said the family is in shock. “Arjun’s father is no more and his mother lives in Surat,” said a neighbour. Air India 171, which had 242 people on board, including 12 crew members, crashed in seconds after taking off from the Ahmedabad airport. The plane could gain an altitude of only 672 feet before it began losing lift and crashed into a building in the BJ Medical College complex in Meghaninagar very close to the airport killing all but one passengers and at least 24 people on the ground, many of them medical students.
For 21-year old Dhvani Patel, her parents had planned to surprise her by flying to London earlier than they were expected to but could never make it and only the news of their death in the Ahmedabad plane crash reached her. Dhvani Patel’s parents and aunt were travelling from Gujarat’s Vasad to London to attend her convocation ceremony. But what could have been a joyous family get-together turned into a tragedy.
Her parents, Rajnikant Patel and Divyaben Rajnikant, and her maternal aunt Hemangi Patel had plans to travel on June 17, but they advanced their travel dates to surprise their daughter and spend at least five more days with her. As the news of the tragedy reached Dhvani, a nightmare unfolded for another member of the family. Hemangi’s son Parth Patel lost her mother in the crash just eight months after his father died.
Anand MP Mitesh Patel, who was a friend of Rajnikant Patel, met Parth at their home and extended his condolences. Their story is among the many stories of the families who have lost their loved ones in the passenger jet crash.
The Charotar region in Anand and Kheda districts in central Gujarat have emerged as the most affected areas in the tragedy. As per reports, at least 50 people from the region, which has a very large population of NRIs, were on board the ill-fated London-bound flight.
Air India said in the ill-fated flight there were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London’s Gatwick airport, as well as 12 crew members.
In a statement on Friday, Air India and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran described Thursday as one of the darkest days in the Tata Group’s history. “This is a very difficult moment. What occurred yesterday was inexplicable, and we are in shock and mourning. To lose a single person we know is a tragedy, but for so many deaths to occur at once is incomprehensible. This is one of the darkest days in the Tata Group’s history. Words are no consolation right now, but my thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the people who died and were injured in the crash. We are here for them,” he said,
