The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : A shattered dream

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 26, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

A shattered dream

Sangeeth Kurian

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When Varsha G. Pillai died in a plane crash in the Philippines on July 8 this year, it also shattered a dream she had nurtured as a schoolgirl, to fly with her sister Kavita, an airhostess, in her official capacity as a pilot someday.

As Ms. Kavita, an airhostess with Irish Airline and nine years elder to her late sister, prepares to join back to work, “her heart is heavy with the painful memories” of her dear sister who dreamed of becoming an astronaut someday.

The 18-year-old trainee pilot was killed in a mid-air collision at Bulacan in the Philippines. Varsha and her instructor Patrick Philip Teruel were killed when their Cessna collided with another light plane of the same make in which another Indian student, Reena Salve, was flying at an altitude of 500 ft.

According to Jun Castelo, chief flight instructor, World City College for Aviation, the Philippines, the collision occurred after the plane received ground clearance for landing.

More than two months after the tragedy a beaming bespectacled photograph of Varsha pasted on the compound wall leading to her house ‘Shree’ on the eve of cremation still remains, greeting visitors to her house here at Eenchakkal.

“More than sisters we were like friends. I used to chat with Varsha through the Internet on a regular basis,” said Ms. Kavita who will leave for London on Saturday.

Ms. Kavita had also planned to visit her sister in the Philippines where she was undergoing a seven-month Commercial Pilot Training Programme. “But unfortunately the trip never materialised,” she said.

According to Ms. Kavita, her sister’s laptop, caps and shoulder badges are among her most prized possessions today. “There are hundreds of photographs on her training in the Philippines in the laptop,” said Ms. Kavita, who plans to take it along with her to London. Meanwhile Varsha’s parents, N. Gopinathan Pillai and Jaya Gopinath, remain inconsolable.

“It was her ambition to become an astronaut. But since there was no direct course for becoming an astronaut we decided to enrol her for the pilot training programme,” said Mr. Pillai, a Gulf returnee.

With the demise of her daughter, Mr. Pillai is now confronted with the responsibility of repaying the educational loan of Rs.10 lakh which he had taken as tuition fee for his daughter.

“I have already given representations to various ministers including Chief Minister V.S. Acuthanandan for a waiver of the loan amount. But I am yet to get a favourable response from them,” he said.

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