A Child Lost in Flight<\/em>\u00a0is the story of a young Indian couple, Mohan and Suja, who lose their healthy 4-1\/2 month-old son on an international flight to Delhi. For no apparent reason, little Aditya turns blue and stops breathing while nursing from his mother during the flight\u2019s descent.<\/p>\nMohan begins the story in the present, nearly a year after his son\u2019s death. Tears pour forth unexpectedly while driving to work as a simple song reminds him of his son. Titled \u201cPreamble,\u201d the chapter summarizes the grief journey his wife Suja and he have been on, setting the stage for the story.<\/p>\n
Mohan and Suja joyfully anticipate the arrival of their son, Aditya. Mohan takes a very hands-on approach to the whole experience, beginning with his support of Suja during the long birth process, and continuing with his active involvement in the child\u2019s day-to-day care. Because of this involvement, Mohan admits, \u201cI was intensely attached to the little guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mohan and Suja soon discover that living in Canada, far away from their immediate families in India is, no longer desirable. The complex arrangements are made and they begin their long journey from Toronto to Delhi.<\/p>\n
Mohan and Suja consulted with the baby\u2019s doctor before departure, making sure they were taking every precaution to insure Aditya\u2019s safety. Feeling secure in their decision, the family begins the series of long flights, never suspecting the calamity that would befall them.<\/p>\n
Mohan\u2019s clear and concise narrative moves now with greater urgency. No clue is given as to how the child would die; when he does, it is shocking in its utter randomness. Taut descriptions of the inexperienced crew, the mistakes made and the precious time lost create an oppressive sense of helplessness.<\/p>\n
The lack of compassion and involvement, coupled with clear ineptitude and endless bureaucracy on the part of the airline (Jet Airways), airport officials, the police inspector and medical officials at the morgue add to this sense of powerlessness. Mohan clearly admits to his confusion and inability to get the answers he needed.<\/p>\n
After gathering himself, Mohan embarks on an ultimately fruitless search for answers, filing a detailed report with the airline but coming up empty. A copy of his letter and the airline\u2019s response clearly illustrates that the death of a human being has been forgotten in sea of bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
It was at this point in the story where I was surprised and encouraged by the resiliency of this couple. Finding no real help from family, friends, self-help books and online forums, or their Hindu religion, Mohan and Suja wisely begin to give in to the flow of their grief\u2019s journey, moving away to Switzerland to start a new life.<\/p>\n
By agreeing together to go on the journey, Mohan and Suja preserve their marital relationship, drawing closer to each another. Many marriages cannot withstand the stress brought on by a child\u2019s death; Mohan and Suja were fortunate. Mohan refers several times to the \u201cblessing\u201d of \u201cbeing in the present,\u201d thus showing insight and an acceptance of where they were at, with a willingness to be led forward.<\/p>\n
Mohan cited a particularly helpful book by Elizabeth Gilbert entitled Eat, Pray Love<\/em>. He writes:<\/p>\nGilbert\u2019s cheery narrative of how she broke through the gloom and despair of divorce and her lost dreams by following her dream: spending a year eating, loving, and praying, moving across continents to focus on herself to reflect and recharge resonated with me. Wasn\u2019t this also the situation Suja and I had found ourselves in? There was a distinct pattern in the book that resonated with me.<\/em><\/p>\nRemaining in the present, allowing oneself to recharge, to breathe \u2026 this, to me, speaks of someone open to the flow of life\u2019s journey, through the tumultuous to the hope of a new place. Mohan and Suja were open to transformation, the healing power of allowing grief to take its course.<\/p>\n
As a spiritually-minded person who has found my faith in God a vital part of the healing process during my own periods of grief, I believe that God manifests Himself directly or indirectly, to each individual, according to that individual\u2019s needs. I see a guiding hand in Mohan and Suja\u2019s journey, one that for them that leads to new life and new joys for them as a family.<\/p>\n
There is much wisdom in A Child Lost in Flight<\/em> that can apply just as easily to people of faith as to people with little or no faith. Little Aditya will never be forgotten but his memory can serve as a reminder and a guide to this couple of life, death and renewal: the most basic, and most profound of mysteries.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today\u2019s post is by Susan Bailey, a faithful reader of this blog (you may recognize her name from her many thoughtful comments). Her contribution describes a book that touched her heart: Death can be sudden and random, and grief\u2019s journey capricious. Yet if we allow ourselves to be swept along in the journey, it can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/628\/2012\/07\/Child-Lost-in-Flight.jpg\" "\\"Child")
Today\u2019s post is by Susan Bailey, a faithful reader of this blog (you may recognize her name from her many thoughtful comments). Her contribution describes a book that touched her heart:<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=spiritrave0a-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B008E9KKCW\")
.<\/p>\n