– M Rafi Ahmed
One of the victims in the Ahmedabad plane crash, Ranjitha Gopakumaran, was a native of Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, who worked as a nurse in the United Kingdom.
Pathanamthitta district collector Prem Krishnan S said Ranjitha was on the ill-fated flight, and that her death had been confirmed after verifying all details.
Ranjitha, 42, worked as a nurse in the United Kingdom and hailed from Pullad village in the district. She is survived by her husband, Vineesh, two school-going children, Rithika and Induchoodan, and her mother, Thulasi.
According to panchayat member Johnson Thomas, “Ranjitha came home from the UK three days ago. She got the job of a nurse in the state health service, but had come home on a short leave to oversee the construction of her new house.”
Since she moved to the UK around a year ago, she had been wanting to complete her job contract there. “She planned to return to Kerala and work with the state health service,” said the member.
Before moving to the UK, Ranjitha worked as a nurse in Oman for eight years. Her husband, too, had been in Oman, but later returned to Kerala, while Ranjitha flew to the UK.
On Wednesday, Ranjitha left home by a train to Kochi, from where she flew to Ahmedabad to catch the flight to London.
Gloom descended upon Pullad, a village near Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district, following the news of the death of Ranjitha Gopakumaran Nair in the plane crash at Ahmedabad.
At her ancestral home in Vadakkekavala, a steady stream of mourners braved the evening’s heavy downpour to console the bereaved family. The heartbreaking news was officially conveyed to them by the Pathanamthitta district administration around 4.40 p.m. on Thursday.
Ranjitha had been working as a nurse in the United Kingdom for the past year. A government employee on long leave, she had recently returned to Kerala for a brief visit. After rejoining State service, she applied for leave to return to London, where she intended to resign soon from her position with the National Health Service (NHS). It was during this journey back that tragedy struck.
“Her travel itinerary included a train from Chengannur to Nedumbassery, followed by flights to Chennai and Ahmedabad. From Ahmedabad, she boarded a connecting flight to London – the one that met with the accident,” said Aneesh Varikkannamala, a local social worker and resident of Pullad.
Her elderly mother and two young children were devastated by the news. Only the children and their grandmother were at home when the initial reports came in. Since then, relatives, neighbours and well-wishers have gathered at the residence to console the family.
The youngest daughter of the Gopakumaran Nair–Thulasi couple of Konjon House, Ranjitha completed her nursing degree from Pandalam and began her career at a hospital in Gujarat. She later joined the State government service as a nurse at the Kozhencherry District Hospital. She also served as a staff nurse at Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, Oman, before moving to the U.K. last year to join the NHS.
Ranjitha had been building a new house near her ancestral home over the past nine months and was looking forward to moving in soon with her children.
She is survived by her son Induchoodan, a Class X student, and her daughter Ithika, who is in Class VII. She also leaves behind two older brothers, Renjith and Retheesh, both working abroad.
[The author is former Indian Express and Deccan Chronicle chief.]
