56 years on, only memories remain of Malayali soldier died in IAF plane crash: Family

An old photo with yellowing edges, that was all left of Thomas Cherian, the craftsman in Indian Army, who was killed in an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft crash in 1968. Five decades after his family has been told on Monday that his mortal remains have been recovered from Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh, his youngest brother Thomas Varghese ruefully says that the only photo of Cherian had been lost. His parents O M Thomas and Aleyamma had framed and hung the picture on the wall of their ancestral house at Elanthoor in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district. 

Years later, the house was demolished, and the photo was lost. Thomas Cherian, who was the second among the five siblings, grew up in the house of his father's elder brother Mathai Chacko. "They didn't have children. So they took in my brother and he lived and studied there. That house was also demolished and a new one was built. We have nothing left related to his memory. The two houses where he spent his childhood are gone. His photo is also lost. It means so much to receive his mortal remains after a long time," says Thomas Varghese, who is a farmer. The photo was taken with Cherian in uniform in Chandigarh. Varghese was a class 4 student when his family received a telegram saying that Thomas Cherian had gone missing in an aircraft crash. The family on Tuesday managed to source an old photo of Cherian from the Army.

Cherian studied at Catholicate School and Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, and joined the Army. Thomas Mathew, the eldest brother was his inspiration. He had joined the IAF and the family felt proud that two of their members were serving in the Army and the Air Force. Cherian used to be a bright student. He had come home after his training and then returned to his place of posting. The next thing the family heard was that Cherian was missing.

"When he went missing, my parents were shattered. Mother asked my eldest brother to quit the force and return. She was scared," recollects Varghese. Thomas Mathew then returned home after 10 years of service in the Indian Air Force and then got employed as a range officer with the Forest department in Kerala. He died at the age of 52. "This was even more painful for my mother, who had already been worried about her second son. She kept believing till her death that Cherian would come home someday," says Varghese.

For a long time, his family believed that he had been missing and may be alive somewhere. In 2003, an official communication confirmed that Thomas Cherian was dead.

"We all grew up hearing tales about him. When police told us yesterday (September 30) that the body has been found, we went through a range of emotions. It is like having a closure, finally," says Shinu Elsa, daughter of Cherian's eldest brother Thomas Mathew. Since Cherian was unmarried, all communications were addressed to his mother Aleyamma. Every time a letter came, Aleyamma would be depressed, says Varghese. Aleyamma died in 1998.

The family has been told that Cherian's body is partially burnt. It would be embalmed and taken to Thiruvananthapuram in four days. The funeral will be held at the family cemetery at Karoor St Peters Orthodox church, where Cherian's mother, father and eldest brother were laid to rest. "It is a huge relief to know that his body has been found. Although we have never met him, our memories from childhood are closely associated with him. Our grandparents and our family always remembered him and even remotely hoped that he will walk into our home one day holding a bag," says Thomas Mathew's son Shyju Mathew, who is an Assistant Engineer with PWD.

Cherian's father OM Thomas was the clerk of an advocate and also had been a panchayat member. He died in 1990.