‘I want to see what my son flew’

Separated from her husband since Mayank was a child, Purnima had done all she could to make her son’s dream to fly come true. Her daughter, who’s a physiotherapist in hometown Lucknow, had returned to her only a few years back. Just when life had begun to look up, just when her family seemed complete, her son’s Jaguar crashed.

Flt Lt Mayank was piloting one of the two ill-fated Jaguars which went missing on Friday over Sonamarg in north Kashmir while on a routine training sortie. His mortal remains were found on Sunday and would be consigned to flames here tomorrow.

Though besides herself with grief, Purnima made it a point to call on Flt Lt Nidhi Oberoi, whose husband Flt Lt Gagan Oberoi was piloting the other ill-fated Jaguar.

Sitting there surrounded by relatives, Nidhi seemed lost to the world. The Oberois, who met and fell in love at the Air Force Academy, Secunderabad, had just celebrated their second marriage anniversary on March 2. ‘‘They couldn’t be together this year. While Nidhi was at Coimbatore, Gagan was at Pokhran training for Vayu Shakti,’’ Gagan’s father Dheeraj Oberoi sighed.

Nidhi’s father S K Agarwal, who sat alone amongst the stream of visitors at the Oberoi residence, recalled how his father was dead set against his joining the armed forces. ‘‘I don’t know why I allowed Nidhi to join the Air Force,’’ he shook his head.

Earlier, Nidhi donned her uniform to bid the final adieu to her husband at the cremation grounds. ‘‘She’s a brave girl, but we will take her with us to Meerut for some time…’’ her father-in-law murmured, as Gagan’s schooltime buddies, Yagyesh Gaur, Shakeel Ahmed and Maj L Shyam Kumar, relived their days with the late pilot. ‘‘He was an extraordinary student and sportsperson rolled into one. He could master any