Squadron Leader Samir Abrol would have turned 33 on Wednesday, but for a tragedy on February 1 this year in Bengaluru—the ace test pilot was killed, along with his co-pilot, Squadron Leader Siddhartha Negi, while they were flying a newly upgraded two-seater IAF Mirage 2000 TI aircraft on a test sortie.

Samir’s wife Garima Abrol, 32, and his family were shattered, but are now slowly gaining some semblance of normalcy. The family is proud that another member is on her way to join the Indian Air Force. Garima, who was living the life of an Air Force wife and a Zumba instructor in Bengaluru with Samir, had probably not thought that the tragedy would steer her towards an air warrior’s path. She has cleared her written examination as well as the Service Selection Board (SSB) and is just a medical test away from donning the uniform.

“We expect her hard work to turn into reality. The force is not new to her as she has seen a lot of how life is in the Air Force. She wishes to wear Samir’s uniform one day,” says Sushma Abrol, Samir’s mother, at their house in Gandhi Nagar, Ghaziabad.

Garima is also pursuing an MBA course and has her second term examination on July 17, which also happens to be her late husband’s birthday.

“She will be writing an examination on Wednesday, while we will be holding a blood donation camp at our house. Since she is busy with her MBA examinations, we have asked her to concentrate on her studies. She has transformed herself in the past five months. Samir always told her not to consider herself just the ‘wife of a Squadron Leader’ but be an independent woman,” says Sanjeev Abrol, Samir’s father.

The family says that Garima wishes to be a part of the Air Force, because Samir, who was fond of flying, loved it.

“Samir always loved flying, especially the single-seater Mirage 2000. He could have flown the Sukhoi, but he told us that it was a two-seater aircraft and he wished to fly alone. So flying a Mirage 2000 was his choice,” Samir’s mother adds.

Ironically, Samir died while testing an upgraded two-seater version of the Mirage 2000.

A portrait of Samir with his Mirage 2000 dons the walls of the drawing room of the Abrols’ house in Gandhi Nagar colony in Ghaziabad, adorned with signatures and comments of his family members, relatives, and friends.

First Published: Jul 17, 2019 08:44 IST