Among the 241 Air India crash victims was a Gujarati mother of an 8-year-old boy, Abdhiben Patel, who was very reluctant to travel to India, leaving her young son behind for the first time.
According to her colleague, Abdhiben, known as Abdhi, had flown to India just two weeks earlier to care for her elderly mother, but was hesitant to make the trip.
“She didn’t want to go,” said Atif Karim, 45, her colleague and close friend at Zone Beauty Studio in Northampton, told the news agency PA.
“She told me, ‘I just don’t like being away from him’. It was her first time leaving him, and she was very nervous.”
Atif shared that although Abdhi wasn’t excited about the trip, “it was a sense of duty. Her mum was unwell, but you could tell it was weighing on her.”
‘Totally devoted to him’
Atif Karim shared that the recent tensions between India and Pakistan, which led to flight cancellations and uncertainty, had also added to Abdhi’s worries.
“All the flights were getting cancelled. It didn’t feel like the right time,” he said, sharing that her husband Pankaj worked night shifts.
Abdhi was inseparable from their son Meer, he said. “She kept saying how shy and reserved he is, how attached they were. She was totally devoted to him – her entire world revolved around him.”
Abdhiben Patel had planned to return to work on Saturday. On Wednesday, the day before the crash, she messaged Atif to check in about a task and offer to help finish it remotely.
“She said, ‘Do you want me to finish that?’ and later, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort it,’” he said. “That was the last I heard.”
Who was Abdhiben Patel?
Originally from Gujarat, she moved to the UK in 2012 and joined the salon in 2016. She worked her way up over the years and had been managing the business for the last three.
“She was the most diligent, reliable worker I’ve ever had,” Atif said. “But more than that, she was our friend.”
“She was bubbly, kind, always smiling – she had a way of putting people at ease and always took a genuine interest in their lives.”
“She got on with everyone and left a real mark on the people she worked with and the customers she served.
(With agency inputs)
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Tami Klemp