Pratik Joshi lived alone in London for six years. He was a software professional who had left his family behind in India, driven by the hope of building a better life for them abroad.
While he worked long hours in a foreign land, his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, raised their three young children back home. The couple stayed connected through video calls and text messages, clinging to the dream of one day reuniting under the same roof, in a new country, with better opportunities and a brighter future.
That dream was finally becoming a reality.
Just two days ago, Dr. Vyas resigned from her medical job in India. They packed up their home, said emotional goodbyes to friends and family, and boarded Air India Flight 171 with smiles on their faces. Pratik sent a selfie to relatives showing the whole family together, laughing, full of excitement, finally on their way “home.”
It was supposed to be a fresh start. A reward for all the sacrifices they had made over the years.
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But the plane never made it to London.
Flight 171 crashed. All five members of the Joshi family died. What was meant to be the beginning of a new chapter became the end of their story.
It is a tragedy that words can barely contain. A man’s determination to give his family a better life. A woman’s decision to leave everything behind to be by her husband’s side. Three young children with their whole lives ahead of them, gone in an instant.
This heartbreaking story is just one of the 241 lives lost in the crash, a painful reminder of how fragile life can be, even when everything seems to be finally falling into place.
For many others across the world, Pratik’s story is a familiar one, because we are constantly in search of greener pastures, hoping for a better tomorrow. This story could have been anyone’s.
And so, as the world mourns the victims of Flight 171, truly, tomorrow is never promised. Dreams are powerful, but life is fragile.
Let us not forget those who chased hope and paid the ultimate price.
