I\u2019m sure most of you might have come across the news about the recent Air India AI 171 Boeing 787 dreamliner plane crash\u2014one of the deadliest in recent times\u2014with at least 270 people confirmed dead (as I write this). My heart goes out to every single soul who lost their life in that tragic flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This incident has been sitting quietly at the back of my mind for the past two to three days. It bothered me\u2014deeply\u2014for reasons I couldn\u2019t understand at first. Slowly, I started finding answers to some of those thoughts, while others still remain open questions that I\u2019m trying to figure out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let me make it clear\u2014this blog isn\u2019t an attempt to dissect the possible causes of the crash. I\u2019m not a pilot, nor an aviation expert, and I don\u2019t want to feed into the theories floating around. If you\u2019re looking for a technical breakdown or logical analysis, this probably isn\u2019t the read for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you’re someone who gets curious about what happens inside the human mind<\/em> in those final moments\u2026 or how we, as people, respond to extreme, life-threatening situations\u2014then maybe you\u2019ll resonate with what I\u2019m about to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve been reading my blogs, you\u2019d know I often bring up death\u2014not in a morbid way, but to ground myself. There are two reasons I do that: But truth be told, I\u2019m just like everyone else\u2014I don\u2019t want to die. I don\u2019t want to lose the people I love. I cling to life even when I talk about death. Still, life doesn\u2019t really care about our preferences, does it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The passengers and crew on that Air India flight didn\u2019t board the plane expecting it to be their last ride. No one does. But life can be ruthless\u2014it strikes when we least expect it. And if you really think about it, we walk around every day with this unconscious optimism that nothing will happen to us… until something does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I keep wondering what thoughts ran through their minds when\u2014or if<\/em>\u2014they heard the \u201cBrace for impact\u201d announcement. But from what I\u2019ve read, the crash happened too fast for that. The plane hit a hostel building barely seconds after takeoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 38 seconds. That\u2019s all the time the pilots had.Imagine that\u2014just 38 seconds to make life-and-death decisions for 242 people onboard. I\u2019m sure they were doing everything in their power to avoid the inevitable. And I doubt they even got a second to think about themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people on board must have felt something was wrong. Fear, panic, disbelief. But they must have trusted the pilots. They may have prayed to all the gods they know . Maybe they just held onto a sliver of hope, even when the harsh reality stared them down.That trust. That hope. That final fight\u2014knowing what\u2019s coming…It breaks me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I say this with some weight, because I\u2019ve had two near-death experiences of my own. I survived, obviously. But those moments? They\u2019ve left a mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s been 15 years, so my memory isn\u2019t perfect. But I\u2019ll try to be honest. When we share such stories\u2014even in therapy\u2014there\u2019s always some imagination that sneaks in to fill the gaps. Words can\u2019t fully capture emotion. We reach for the closest ones and move on. But sometimes, those small memories come back with surprising clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first incident happened when I was just learning to swim. Three of my friends and I made a stupid bet to see who was the best swimmer. Behind my house was a massive, deep pond\u2014so deep that even during summer, the water stayed full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the rainy season, the pond was almost full, and the challenge was simple: swim from one end to the other and back. Whoever finished first won a treat (don\u2019t remember what the treat was, probably just ego). I was so pumped. I swam across just fine, but on the way back, I hit a wall. My body shut down\u2014completely fatigued. I tried to push, but I was sinking.Soon ,I stopped fighting. I accepted it. Then, I felt this eerie silence inside me ,a strange calm and I slowly closed my eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then\u2014Someone yanked my hair up.<\/em>My friends had realized I was drowning. They saved me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second incident? Even dumber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few weeks after that, I got obsessed with a story I\u2019d read\u2014the Panchatantra<\/em> tale of the monkey and the crocodile. It was about friendship, betrayal, and wit. I don\u2019t know what got into me, but I decided to play it out\u2026 by jumping into a river with my four-year-old baby brother on my back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second I hit the water, I knew I\u2019d messed up. I couldn\u2019t swim well enough, and the weight of my brother was pulling me down. I wrapped his legs around my shoulders and went completely under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I couldn\u2019t breathe. I was losing oxygen. My body was giving up. But my mind fought. I wasn\u2019t going to let him drown. I kept him up\u2014somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the shore, my mother saw a tiny head floating. She dove in, pulled him out first, and then dragged me out by my hair. I blacked out. I\u2019ve erased most of what happened after i regained my consciousness (and if you\u2019ve ever pissed off an Indian mom for nearly killing her kid, you probably know what happened next).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both those moments were close. But what I felt in each was so different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I was alone, I gave up. That\u2019s the thing about humans. In our most fragile moments, we still try to save others. We forget ourselves. That, I believe, is what happened with the Air India pilots , Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and first Officer Clive Kundar.They didn\u2019t prioritize themselves. They tried\u2014until the last second\u2014to protect everyone else. They paid the price with their lives.And no one\u2019s going to remember their names like they should. But they are heroes<\/em> in my eyes. The kind of heroes who show up silently and disappear just as quietly.Thank you, both of you. And to every crew member on that flight\u2014thank you for your courage and showing the raw and real human spirit when you were stripped of everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PS:<\/strong> Just to reiterate, the intent of this blog is to reflect on what may have occurred during the final 38 seconds of their lives \u2014 irrespective of the cause<\/em>. Whether it was a technical failure or human error, we simply don\u2019t know yet. Until the official findings are released, all we can do is wait \u2014 with care, respect, and patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More details about the crash : https:\/\/www.firstpost.com\/explainers\/mayday-call-crash-into-medical-hostel-what-happened-to-air-india-flight-after-it-took-off-13896549.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m sure most of you might have come across the news about the recent Air India AI 171 Boeing 787 dreamliner plane crash\u2014one of the deadliest in recent times\u2014with at least 270 people confirmed dead (as I write this). My heart goes out to every single soul who lost their life in that tragic flight. 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\n\n\n\nThe Thing About Death<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A) To remind me<\/em> of reality.
B) To remind us<\/em> that we\u2019re not immortal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve Been There\u2014Almost<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nWhen You\u2019re Alone vs. When You\u2019re Not<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When I had someone with me\u2014I fought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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