A Final Family Photo, A Dream Cut Short: Meet The Doctor Couple Onboard Ill-Fated Air India Flight Who Never Made It To London

Dr. Pratik Joshi, Dr. Kamini Joshi and their children, Miraya, Nakul and Pradyut. (Photo: X)

New Delhi: Dr Pratik Joshi had been building a life in London since 2016 – not only for himself but for the family he missed every single day. The medical doctor had one goal – to bring his wife, Dr. Kamini Joshi, and their three young children to live with them permanently. For years, that dream was on hold. Careers, commitments and the chaos of life kept stretching the distance.

But then, finally, everything fell into place. Kamini, a doctor at Udaipur Medical College, submitted her resignation. The couple packed their lives into suitcases. Their three children – twin boys, Nakul and Pradyut, and a younger daughter – were excited and nervous in equal measure. The family from Banswara in Rajasthan took one last photo before boarding the flight. Tired, yes, but smiling. Ready for a new chapter.

They boarded Air India Flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London. They never made it. The Dreamliner crashed shortly after takeoff, ending five lives in an instant – a mother, a father and their three innocent children. What should have been a beginning became a final farewell.

Back in Rajasthan, two families wait in disbelief, their homes now filled with an unbearable silence. At Udaipur Medical College, colleagues still check Kamini’s desk as if expecting her to walk in any moment. Her students can barely process the news.

This family’s story was the most heart-wrenching among the eleven lives Rajasthan lost in the crash. Five of the dead were children.

In Balotra, another family is in mourning. Just 24 years old, Khushboo Kanwar had only been married for five months. She was on her way to London to begin life with her husband, Dr. Vipul Singh Rajpurohit.

She never got the chance. Her entire village has plunged into mourning. Her wedding decorations had barely come down.

Udaipur lost four more souls. Varardi Chandra Menaria and Prakash Chand Menaria were traveling back to work in London. Both were cooks. Varardi had just returned from spending time with family. His wife and son had accompanied him to the airport, waved him off with hugs. A few hours later, their world collapsed.

Shagun Modi and her brother Shubh, children of Udaipur businessman Pinku Modi, were also on board. Both were studying in London. Their family home in Saheli Nagar now holds only memories – books still left open and rooms too quiet.

In Bikaner’s Sridungargarh, the tragedy reached the home of Shiv Parihar, grandson of former MLA Kishna Ram Nai. Shiv had opened a trading office in Ahmedabad just five days ago. He was heading to London to bring his wife and child back to start fresh as a family in India. But fate had other plans.

Eleven lives from Rajasthan. Eleven unfinished stories. Eleven empty chairs at dinner tables that will never be filled again.

Some of them were leaving home for the first time. Others were returning after years away. All of them believed they had time. But the sky had a different answer.