British couple and children who lost their lives in air crash laid to rest in Malad

Time of India

9 hours ago

1
2
3
Mumbai: Four British nationals who lost their lives in the Ahmedabad air crash were laid to rest in Malad on Wednesday. The fledgling family of Javed Ali Syed, 38, his wife Mariam, 35, and their little children Zayn, 6, and Amani, 4, had embodied the Indian middle class dream of making a better life abroad.
The two children were among the youngest victims of the tragedy.
Raised in Iraniwadi, Goregaon, Javed studied hotel management in London and acquired British citizenship. He was manager at the Best Western Kensington Olympia Hotel while Mariam, 35, worked at Harrods. The couple lived in Kensington, London.
"They travelled to India to celebrate Eid ul' Azha on June 7 with the family as well as to treat Javed's ailing mother who had recently suffered a heart attack," said cousin Saood Memon.
At 5pm Wednesday, they were buried at the Jamaat-Ul-Muslimeen Kabrastan in Malad West. Hundreds of mourners crowded the courtyard. Four caskets covered in crimson cloth were borne upon the shoulders of mourners. As the imam intoned prayers, everyone recited along. Among them stood Javed's elder brother Imtiaz Ali Syed, exhaustion evident in his eyes.
"Right now, given this situation I can't even talk to you properly," he said to TOI.
"My mind is completely preoccupied in making sure we send them off well."
Javed's mother Farida was not informed of the calamity that had befallen them until Monday. Imtiaz arranged for a cardiologist and psychologist to be present while breaking the news to her.
Imtiaz had jetted to Ahmedabad on the night of June 12 and was there for five days with his uncles. Once the DNA tests were matched, the bodies were flown to Mumbai and kept in a Byculla morgue, then brought home for the last rites.
He had put away his mother's phone and shielded her from all social contact lest she collapse of shock. On Wednesday, though, the distraught lady was unable to let go of her son's coffin. Javed's grandmother too wept bitterly.
In Iraniwadi, hundreds of people arrived to convey their condolences. Several others gathered in their balconies and windows.
Yasmine Hassan, the sister of Mariam, arrived from London to bid farewell.
She nearly fainted, then mourned for the kids, screaming, "Meri jaan the woh (they were my life)! Please bring them back. Mere bachche chale gaye (my children are gone)."
A neighbour said, "They came to India after so long to celebrate such a wonderful day and met such a horrible situation." Another said, "Only because they couldn't get a direct flight from Mumbai to London, they chose to go to Ahmedabad. This move cost them their entire family."
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the remains of co-pilot Clive Kunder will be buried at Sewri Christian Cemetery around 3.00 pm. In Dombivli, the last rites of airhostess Roshni Songhare will be performed in the local Shamshan Bhumi. There was a delay in despatching her remains after the DNA verification procedure. The body of Badlapur-based AI cabin crew member Deepak Pathak has not been identified yet.