'It was Kamulkar's dream to soar the skies'

Mumbai, May 22 : It had been only four months since 25-year-old Tejal Kamulkar, one of the six crew aboard the ill-fated Air India Boeing 737-800 that crashed at Mangalore airport Saturday, had started work as an air hostess for the airline, fulfilling her dream to "soar the skies".

It was only two weeks ago that Kamulkar, who cherished a life-long dream to become an air hostess, had celebrated her first birthday after being recruited by Air India. Little did she know it would be her last. Kamulkar was among the 159 people who died in the crash.

Kamulkar's death has left her parents shell-shocked and her neighbours are just not in a position to react. It was only Pragnya Lele, Kamulkar's close friend and neighbor, who gave out the details.

"It was Tejal's dream to fly like a free bird. It was to realise this dream that she did a diploma course in air hostess training from International Air Transport Association (IATA)," said Lele with tears in her eyes.

"She was a good-natured and fun-loving person. It had been only four months that she started working at Air India and she was very happy about it. Who would have known she will meet with this tragic end?" she asked.

Neighbours said that the Kamulkar family had thrown a big party on Tejal's 25th birthday May 5. They were celebrating Tejal's recruitment in Air India as an air hostess.

Kamulkar's father, Anil, works for a private firm in Dubai and her mother is a home maker. Her younger brother, Gaurav, is in his second year of engineering.

Kamulkar did her schooling from a nearby village called Madhvi, where her family originally belongs to. She graduated from Model College, Dombivli.