Wing Commander Darryl Castelino’s face grins at you from
a giant poster draped over a building in Diamond Park compound in
suburban Vakola. Emblazoned with the national flag, the poster salutes
the 38-year-old pilot who was killed in the chopper crash during relief
operations in Uttarakhand.
In a temporary blue
plastic shed in the compound, relatives and friends of the Castelino
family mourn him deeply. They reminisce about his childhood, adolescence
and his untimely death. But the family was not allowed to grieve in
private with the media swooping into the house since news of his death
broke and publishing wrong reports about the funeral.
The
Castelinos were shattered when they heard the news. Darryl’s mother
Leena was not told about it until the family reached Kolkata.
“The body was unrecognisable. They had to take DNA samples to identify
his body. We were told that it was the locket of Mother Mary, which he
was wearing, that made it somewhat easy to identify his body.
Apparently, he was the only Christian on the chopper,” said Libert
Olivera, Darryl’s brother-in-law.
Mr. Olivera waved
his mobile phone in anger. “I have received hundreds of calls and
messages since morning, man. I am tired of telling them that the funeral
is on Sunday. Our relatives in Mangalore are yet to arrive. Have some
sense and leave us alone,” he requested. “You write everything, but at
least take permission from us,” he said.
The
Castelinos live on the second floor of the building. People bowed in
tribute to Darryl’s photo on a table, between candles and red flowers.
His motheris surrounded by women consoling her. She pointed to one of
her grandsons and told the lady sitting next to him, “He had called him
[the boy] and asked [about] his marks before going there. He was excited
to go on the mission. He had told me that he will come back,” she said.
Darryl is survived by his wife and two children.
Darryl’s wife Jyoti, looking pale but composed, was seen thanking the visitors with a dry smile for their support and kindness.
Downstairs, Mr. Olivera said that he had received calls from the
Mangalore media as well, as the Castelinos are originally from there.
“So
they wanted to show him as a martyr of Mangalore. How does it matter?
He died serving the people of this country,” he said. Though Darryl’s
family is from Mangalore, he grew up in Mumbai and was based in Kolkata,
where he served the Indian Air Force.
While the
media continued to pester the family, a TV channel wanted to know when
the funeral was. An old woman took matters into her hand and said, “You
please leave now and come tomorrow. Otherwise, you will keep on asking
us about Darryl and we will be rude to you. We are closing the compound
gate now.”
Source: http://to.ly/ma36
