‘Going back happily, happily…': UK couple killed in Air India crash were in India for Ayurvedic retreat
'Just boarding. Goodbye, India' — This was part of the farewell message posted by a British couple on the Instagram handle of their spiritual wellness brand before they boarded the London-bound Air India flight AI-171 from Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon.
The aircraft, with 242 people on board, crashed shortly after take-off.
Fiongal Greenlaw-Meek and Jamie Ray Meek, who ran The Wellness Foundary, were returning to the UK after coming to India for an Ayurvedic retreat.
In a video they posted on Instagram, recorded at Ahmedabad airport before they boarded the plane, Fiongal said, 'We are at the airport. Just boarding. Goodbye, India.' He joked with Jamie, asking him about the 'biggest takeaway from the trip', before jovially saying, 'My biggest takeaway is don't lose patience with your partner.'
He then said, 'Going back happily, happily, happily, calm.'
In another video that seemed to have been recorded the night before at their hotel, Fiongal said, 'So, it's our last night in India and we have had a magical experience, really. There have been some quite mind-blowing things… We are going to make a vlog about the whole trip and share it.'
Sitting with him, Jamie said, 'There's been too much… It would be just so nice to remember this and to share it with everybody, because we really have been on quite a journey, and then just spending the last night here in this amazing hotel. We've just had the most delicious thali food. It was the perfect way to round up the trip… Excited to share it all with you, actually.'
Fiongal, a tarot reader, had quit his job as a fashion designer to start his spiritual wellness brand, offering services such as psychic readings, tarot readings, reiki healing, sound baths, psychic development courses, past life regression therapy and bespoke events. He founded 'The Wellness Foundry' in 2018, 'born out of a profound spiritual awakening that was sparked by a mysterious illness', the company's website said. On his personal website, he described himself as an 'artist, seer, mystic and illustrator'. The website said Fiongal graduated from the Royal College of Art and had worked with leading fashion houses in London.
Jamie, a spiritual practitioner and yoga teacher, joined the company in 2023 as co-director and head of events. The duo also ran a podcast, Spirit Level, where they shared perspectives on mindfulness and spirituality.
Fiongal had told a friend last week that he was in Gujarat for an Ayurvedic retreat.
Saatvika Mangharam, a Bengaluru-based yoga teacher who had known Fiongal since 2017 when they met at an ashram in Madurai, described him as 'a sweet, kind and gentle person'.
'He put up a status on social media that he was coming to India. On June 3, I texted him on Instagram to catch up, but he said he is in Gujarat for an Ayurvedic retreat. When I saw their video online yesterday, I was shocked. I knew they were in India, but I did not expect to see them in the crash. I messaged him to check, but there was no response,' she said.
'In the video, he bid goodbye to India, and it turned out to be their final goodbye. His last note on Instagram was 'headed home' with a sad emoticon. It is all so uncanny,' she said.
Saatvika said, 'We met at an ashram in Madurai in 2017, where he had come for a yoga teacher training course, and I was a volunteer there at the time. Over the years, we remained in touch online. During Covid, I attended some of his sessions online.'
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