Dr Pratik Joshi had been living in London for the past six years and had long dreamed of building a better future abroad for his wife and their three young children, who were staying back in India.
After years of planning, paperwork, and patience, that dream was finally coming true. However, only two days ago, his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, also a medical professional, resigned from her job in India, packed her bags, said goodbyes, with a bigger future before her.
But all five of them, father, mother and three children’s hope, excitement, and plans ended in the crashed Air India flight 171 to London. Indeed, a one-way journey to begin a new life for the family crashed as the ilfated plane came tumbling down.
They never made it. The plane crashed. None of them survived.
In a matter of moments, a lifetime of dreams turned to ashes. A brutal reminder, life is terrifyingly fragile. Everything you build, everything you hope for, everything you love, it all hangs by a thread. So while you can, live, love, and don’t wait for happiness to start tomorrow.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
