‘What was written in destiny…’: Bodies of missing hostel cook, granddaughter found; family performs last rites
The afternoon of June 12 was no different. Until, around 1.40pm, when an Air India plane crashed into Atulyam – the medical college's hostel housing the mess on the top floor.
Sarla, in her 50s, and Aradhya had been missing ever since. (Express Photos) The mess of BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad was what has given the entire family of Meghaninagar resident Ravi Thakore its source of livelihood.
While his mother Sarla, in her late 50s, used to work there as a cook, the rest of the family – Ravi, his wife Lalita, his father and brother-in-law – used to deliver tiffins to doctors spread out in different parts of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Ravi and Lalita’s 2-year-old daughter, Aadhya, would often stay behind at the mess with her grandmother.
The afternoon of June 12 was no different. Until, around 1.40pm, when an Air India plane crashed into Atulyam – the medical college’s hostel housing the mess on the top floor.
Sarla, in her 50s, and Aradhya had been missing ever since.
The family was fearing the worst but had kept one flicker of hope alive.
But on Thursday, they had to finally come to terms with their loss as the bodies of Sarla and Aadhya were handed over.
Like many of those who perished on ground in the crash, Sarla and Aadhya had not set foot inside an aircraft before. A family that lived right behind the medical college hostel, their world revolved around the premises.
“My wife Lalita, my father, my brother-in-law and I — all four of us had collected the tiffins and had gone to deliver them to the doctors at the hospital when the plane crash took place. Our daughter was with my mother when it happened.”
Sarla was one of the 13 women who worked at the BJ Medical College hostel as a cook, and the only one who was unaccounted for after the crash.
Unlike the four medical students who lost their lives in the mess hall, the bodies of Sarla and Aadhya were not recovered. They were considered missing by the police.
Following the crash, The Indian Express spoke to a number of Sarla’s colleagues who kept visiting the crash site everyday in the hope that Sarla maasi, as she was fondly known, would be found, even if injured.
Earlier this week, like families of other missing persons, Ravi had also given his blood sample for DNA analysis. Ravi said his family, especially his wife Lalita, are numb with grief.
“What was written in destiny has happened, there is nothing we could do about it,” said Ravi after conducting the last rites of his mother and daughter.
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