On June 18, 2009, the worst thing that can happen to parents happened to Mohan and Suja: their baby died. In an effort to work through his grief, Mohan wrote A Child Lost in Flight, a brief memoir that chronicles in excruciating detail the death of Aditya as well as Mohan and Suja’s struggle to move on after the tragedy.
I give little away if I tell you that Mohan and Suja are Indian immigrants who lived in Canada when Aditya was born. For a myriad of reasons, they decided to return to their homeland, where their families lived, so that they could raise their son with a much bigger support network than what they had in Canada. I also give little away if I tell you that Aditya died very suddenly on the flight to India.
Aditya’s death and the events that took place once the plane landed will wrench out your heart. Mohan spares no details as he describes what happens once he and Suja disembark from Flight 229. I sobbed as I read what transpired in India over the next few days, and I bet that most people who read his story will shed at least a few tears.
Ultimately, I think that’s what Mohan needed and hoped for when he wrote the book. I think he needed to reach out and let others feel his pain so that maybe he wouldn’t have to feel so much of it. I think he also wanted to let other parents who have suffered similar losses know that they’re not alone, even if they feel completely isolated from the world in their grief.
It doesn’t matter where we live or what God we pray to. The pain of losing a child is recognizable in any language. Faith, love, and family are what we need to move on in our lives when fate deals us such a violent blow. Mohan and Suja survived their loss, and in A Child Lost in Flight, Mohan offers their experience as a testament to show that it can be done—that the deepest, darkest night will end.
