Following her father’s death, she says the family wants to remember him as a “martyr”.
A year on from 65-year-old N Ramachandran’s death in the Pahalgam terror attack, his family in Kochi have been learning to live with the pain and remembering him as a “brave martyr”.
Ramachandran was on a family holiday to Kashmir with his wife, Sheela, daughter, Arathy, and her two minor sons when he was killed on April 22 last year by terrorists who opened fire in Pahalgam. A total of 26 people died in the attack, including 25 tourists and a local man. Ramachandran, who had worked for decades in the Gulf before returning to Kerala three years ago, was shot dead in the presence of his daughter and grandsons.
“It hasn’t been about overcoming our father’s loss, but about learning to live with the pain it left behind. He was a model for resilience in life. My children are resilient. They have good memories, and they cherish the countless moments they spent with their grandfather,” Arathy says.
She had worked in the UAE until a year ago. Following her father’s death, she says the family wants to remember him as a “martyr”.
“He was very brave till his last moment. He stayed calm during difficult situations, and he dealt with things as they came. He never wore a military uniform and was not part of any force, but he was a brave martyr who laid down his life for the country. It is not the grief that father is not with us, but the memory of a braveheart that keeps us moving ahead,” she says.
Arathy’s quick actions on the day of the terror attack were noteworthy. After terrorists opened fire and killed her father, she ensured the safety of her two minor sons and saw to it that her mother was not immediately exposed to the news of Ramachandran’s death. Later, she spoke to the media, recalling the terror that unfolded in the Bisaran valley and how she handled the situation.
“I wanted my emotions not to come in the way when I explained what actually happened. Again, it was a lesson taught to us by our father that we should speak boldly and calmly,” she says.
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Soon after the attack, she had also told the media about a local taxi driver, who helped the family get to safety. She described how the taxi driver, Musafir, helped her meet local officials and complete all formalities, while his friend, Sameer, took care of her mother. Before leaving Srinagar, she had told them, “You are my brothers, may Allah bless you.”
Arathy says Musafir has been in touch with the family even after they returned to Kochi. He would call and wanted to know how her mother was doing. “They were very helpful. As Indians, we are all united, and we are all human beings. That is the message we have left,” she says.
Before leaving for the Gulf as a young man, Ramachandran had been an RSS worker and even contested a local civic body election.
His daughter, who is planning to fly back to the UAE, said her father’s death had made the family more patriotic. “When father was with us, we used to discuss current affairs. My children know what happened to their grandfather. Now, I feel my children are much more patriotic. They watch and hear news about the Army and defence with much interest. I am sure their generation will be more patriotic than ours,” Arathy says.
