Journalism of Courage
Five months from now,Sohail Zahiruddin Ansari,19,would have become a commercial pilot. Six months ago when he flew his first solo at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy (IGRUA) in Rae Bareli,Uttar Pradesh,his father Zahiruddin Ansari,44,had distributed cake in the basti off Tadiwala Road. It was a proud moment for a father,a small time bakery owner,who had borrowed money from his friends and relatives to pay Sohails course fee of Rs 40 lakh. He even took a loan from a bank for which his friend has mortgaged his house.
On Wednesday evening,when Sohails death in an air crash was reported,his father,a heart patient,was in Gondia on the Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border pinning his hope on the IAFs search operation in Chhindwara,Madhya Pradesh. Sohail,who was on a solo training flight on his DS 40 aircraft,
had gone from there on Tuesday afternoon. He is still missing. The IAF captain told me not to trust anyone and wait till the black box of the aircraft is found, Ansari said over phone.
Chhindwara district police chief Purshottam Sharma said local villagers informed the police about the plane crash,after which a search was launched. While it was not immediately known as to what caused the crash,the Chhindwara police said the pilot,Sohail Ansari (19),lost his way due to the fog. The body of the pilot was found Wednesday near Belakhadi in the Pachmarhi hills.
After finishing Class 12 from Wadia College in 2012,when Sohail first told his father that he wanted to become a commercial pilot like his friend Sumit,Ansari told him that the family had no money to pay the fees. The only source of income for his family of six,including two sisters and two brothers was a small bakery. Even if the family mortgaged their 10 X 12 sq ft room,the money would not have been enough for the fee.
He had cleared CET and could have become an engineer,but he told me that he wanted to become a pilot. For me,it was my sons dream. I asked many of my relatives if they could lend me some money,but all had their own children to feed and educate. Meanwhile,Sohail got a scholarship of Rs 10 lakh and my relative gave me Rs 15 lakh. I generated remaining Rs five lakh from other friends, Zahiruddin said. But Sohails dream was still far from reality. By the time the admission to IGRUA took place,the scholarship lapsed and the institute hiked its fees to Rs 36.5 lakh. It was here that his friend,a dairy owner from the mohalla,stood by the family and mortgaged his home
to raise a loan.
Sohail joined IGRUA on December 6,2012,and would call his father almost every day. In fact Zahiruddin and his wife were at their ancestral village in UP where they had gone to collect the remaining Rs 8 lakh to pay Sohaills fee,when on Tuesday,they were told that their son,who took off from Gondia had gone missing. He was supposed to return by 3 pm. But did not return and has been missing since then, Zahiruddin said.
Zahiruddin has not been informed about his sons death. As he waited for Sohails return at Gondia airport, he said,Why should I think of paying the loan? My son will pay after he becomes a pilot in five months. However,at their home in Tadiwala Road,a scaffolding has been erected even as the people in the mohalla discussed where to bury Sohails remains.
With PTI
