‘Mummy send me selroti, delicacies’ haunting Khimisara, mother of Sirjana killed in Pokhara plane crash

By Neera Gautam, Rupandehi, Jan 16: Khimisara Thapa of Sainamaina in the district was preparing selroti (ring-shaped sweet fried dough made from rice flour) and other delicacies on the occasion of Maghe Sankranti, one of the Hindu festivals.

The delicacies were for her daughter Sirjana Thapa (Sirju), an airhostess, who was killed in the Yeti Airlines aircraft crash in Pokhara on Sunday. She engaged herself since Sunday morning, the fateful day for the family, in preparing the delicacies, and had a plan to get them to her 29-year-old daughter in Kathmandu today (Monday), through her daughter-in-law Saraswati.

Having worked for the airlines since seven years ago, Sirjana had hardly found herself off work for a visit or celebrations during festivals. So, Khimisara had a plan to get the delicacies transported to her in Kathmandu through her daughter-in-law Saraswati. On Sunday, Sirjana was assigned to attend to four flights (Kathmandu-Pokhara, Pokhara-Kathmandu, Kathmandu-Bhadrapur and Bhadrapur-Kathmandu). She had informed her mother Khimisara about her work-schedule on the fateful day through a phone.

However, fate had something else in store for her. She was killed in the ATR 72 aircraft of the Yeti Airlines on Sunday. She was among 72 people (68 passengers) and four crew members who were killed in the tragedy.

Cold wave had affected Rupandehi, the home district of Sirjana, since Thursday. Cold and dense fog engulfed the whole district the fateful day, although the day was sunny the day before.

In the meantime, news of the plane crash made the rounds at 11:30 am. In the first place, Khimisara could not believe the news. But later, her house at Buddhanagar of Sainamaina Municipality-5 and the village remained speechless and silent in mourning after Srijana’s death was confirmed. Following the incident, the whole neighbours of Khimisara gathered at her house to console her and the family. Khimisara, her family and relatives are still in shock as they are mourning her death.

“She (Sirjana) had asked me to send her a bit more selroti and other delicacies on the phone yesterday. This happened today,” she moaned. “I liked ‘Batuk’ (a kind of delicacies). Send me mummy,” she said quoting Sirjana.

Her works have been still stuck in Khimisara. She is survived by her father Rim Bahadur, mother Khimisara and three brothers.

The whole village, her family and relatives have been mourning her death, and console has been pouring in, said the ward chair Dhan Prasad Paudel.

After completing her plus two from Siddhartha Memorial Academy in Sainamaina and bachelor from Crimson College of Technology in Butwal, she worked for the airlines since 2072 BS after taking airhostess training from Sahara Academy in Butwal.